#this is an incredibly specific post because it’s literally just media I enjoy in particular | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

ambersky0319 · 9 months ago

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@avatar-aita

Because I have the time and I want to let's break this down.

Below the cut I've gone through your points as well as I am able at the moment, as well as proposed some questions to you. Whether you respond or not is up to you.

You implied wanting people to think critically. Here is a critical analysis of this entire post.

Avatar is a good movie argument

I have never watched Avatar. I have no interest in watching Avatar. I don't think it looks interesting. I would probably not like it.

You don't like the movie. That's fine. You're free to like and dislike any movie or show you want.

Your argument is that it is an objectively bad movie.

So?

Must a piece of media be objectively good for people to enjoy it? The take that the only pieces of media that can be enjoyed must be good is very strange to me, and I would love an elaboration on this. Because arguably you could say that any piece of media is objectively bad, and therefore no one should enjoy it.

One of my favorite movies is Circle directed by Aaron Hann and Mario Miscione. It is, quite literally, people just standing in a circle, talking. It is an incredibly boring movie, takes place in a room made up of mostly black with red circles for the cast to stand on, and the tie-indicating lights look tacky. But I like this film, because I enjoy the commentary that it builds and explores, and I like revisiting it when I don't want to actively look at a screen but need some background noise.

Am I stupid for liking an objectively bad movie?

Or how about I take a movie that I personally think is bad. Parasite directed by Han Jin-won. This movie absolutely drags. There is no tension when I watched I felt like there was no proper build to the climax, which ended up just feeling like an unnecessary bloodbath to me. And while I get the societal issues the movie is touching on, even now I feel like it reached the point of satire without intending to, and therefore losing any sense of realism I might have gotten from this film.

Should I be considering people who like this movie stupid, just because I think it's bad?

Or how about horror as a genre? Personally, I'm not the biggest fan. I don't think most horror films have substance, and especially newer ones seem to be focused on eliciting fright via jumpscares or disgust by including an unnecessary amount of gore. I don't think most of these films have anything to really offer beyond shock value.

Should I consider those who enjoy this genre as stupid?

I'll stop now, but I think you get my point.

I personally don't think I should consider anyone in any of these situations stupid. I've always been of the opinion that media is subjective - just because I may think something is bad, doesn't mean it actually is. But even if it is bad, why should I care who enjoys it? I don't know why they may like the media, and frankly, it doesn't matter. People have their opinions, and I have mine, and I am perfectly capable of keeping them to myself (most of the time).

But really, this all raises a few questions for me as to your own stakes in this. Why are you so passionate about hating this movie? Why does this movie in particular evoke such a hostile response? Why do you feel the need to actively talk down to people who have different tastes than you do?

Touch grass comments

No I get this response. But do take into account that comments like these tend to be euphemisms for "You are way too emotional over a very small thing, and you should take a step back from the subject." Which, given how furious you seem to be over people defending this film specifically, may be needed, so you can consider why you feel so strongly at the very least.

The couch comments.

This was just information you left out in the original post, and you introduced this person as your coworker. It was confusing to read the initial post and assume this was someone you interacted with mostly in a professional environment, only meeting once a week in one of your homes to unwind and get to know each other.

Thank you for providing further context, but perhaps this submission would have been clearer if you had simply stated "roommate", or introduced him as your "coworker and roommate". However, there's still some information missing that I believe you can provide further clarity on:

Do you share a room? If so, was there really no other way for him to stay in that room with you - such as some kind of divider. If no, then why did he decide to sleep on the couch?

Why would he feel the need to sleep on the couch? There's stubbornness, yes, but did you say anything that would have created such a reaction that he would refuse to even sleep in his own bed? What was said in that bigger argument?

I believe understanding that situation is useful for figuring out the relationship you both have - which is necessary in understanding if the dialogue you described in this submission is common for your relationship. My initial judgement when I first saw this submission about a week ago brought up how context is needed when calling someone "stupid" in any kind of relationship in terms of 1) how often it happens and 2) whether or not it is said as a joke. I stand by this point and still feel like clarity is needed here.

Your coworker should find better friends comments.

I'll admit to being one of the people to say this. My own bias definitely impacted me making this comment - personally, if someone called me stupid for enjoying a movie, I would likely drop them as a friend. But that's my experience, and I know that's not everyone's response.

So. You say he won't.

Okay. Then what's stopping you from ending this friendship? If movie tastes matter this much to you, and you have such differing tastes that you cannot stand others liking movies you think are bad, then why are YOU friends with him? Why do YOU watch movies with him?

If he won't find other friends, then maybe you should quit movie night with him and either do it on your own, find other people whose opinions YOU can tolerate, or stop movie night altogether. This would not only push him to expand his social circle, but would positively benefit you because you won't have to deal with people asking occasionally to watch movies you think are terrible.

Also, how are you so sure that he won't? Are you his only friend? I imagine you guys have other coworkers. Why not suggest he watch movies with some of them?

Finally, he won't what? He won't make other friends, or he won't make better friends? With this very short answer, which do you mean? Are you saying he refuses to befriend anyone else, or are you saying that he could choose to make friends who are better than you, but won't? And what are the reasons for that refusal?

Further friend comments

I'm not sure if you really understood why people made these comments. Do you believe that the reason people are asking this is because you and your friend have differing opinions?

Your initial submission was you asking if you were the asshole for calling someone stupid. The comments about being surprised he is still your friend are about how you speak about him. Because the way you have worded your initial submission shows a very strong disdain for this person.

Let's break down some of your initial wording - I did say I was going to apply critical analysis to your response, and while i wasn't going to do your initial submission, I believe analyzing it here is particularly useful.

"I and my coworker usually have 'movie nights' on our days off." (Paragraph 1)

I brought it up earlier, but why do you only call him your coworker here? Why did you not mention you were roommates from the beginning? From an initial read, coworker implies a mostly professional, rather distant relationship. And yes, you can be friends with your coworkers. But generally if you have a relationship beyond being coworkers, then the coworker title becomes second to whatever other relationship you have. "This is X, my friend and coworker" or "This is X, we're roommates and coworkers".

By simply addressing him as a coworker only, I get the implications that you don't value this friendship. Or, I get the implication that you downplayed the relationship, because it is more socially unacceptable to be rude to friends or roommates than coworkers. Neither seems particularly flattering to your character.

"... sometimes I do let him choose the movie, as long as I don't find it too unbearable." (Paragraph 1)

This implies when choosing a film, you only take into account your own feelings for a movie. It implies you completely disregard how he feels. It also gives off the feeling that you believe that different opinions from yours - specifically when considering the quality of films - are inherently bad. This is not helped by the following sentence:

"(His taste in cinema is below average.)" (Paragraph 1)

Who are you to say what is considered average? An average is based upon adding up the total amount of something and dividing it by the number of things that contributed to what you are measuring. Take, for example, an average rating.

In your response later, you explicitly say "Widespread opinion can be wrong." (Paragraph 1 of Point 1, Sentence 1). So why did you feel the need to bring average into this discussion? If averages can be wrong - and they can be, from a statistical point of view it is better to look at medians instead of ranges - then your view of what is average can be wrong. Anyone's view of average can be wrong, because average is not a good way to measure something.

And it only gets messier when the average is about opinions, seeing as opinions are fluctuating and are dependent on each individual. But you mention widespread opinion. And yes, they can be wrong as well. However, who is to determine which widespread opinions are wrong? What credentials do you have to dictate this? Do you believe that you alone can dictate this? If not, why are you even making this argument?

Returning to the point of how it seems like you never even consider his opinion when picking movies:

"I agreed, and asked him if he wanted to watch anything in particular. (This is more of a pleasantry. He usually never suggests anything specific when I ask this.)" (Paragraph 2)

Why do you consider this question a pleasantry? To ask if someone wants to watch a particular movie when making plans to have a movie night is not a pleasantry, it is a basic part of planning a movie night. When my friends and I get together to watch movies, we all bring up movies we may want to watch, or on the outset we say "Hey do you want to watch X movie?" It is not a pleasantry, and the fact that you consider it such implies to me, once again, that you don't value his opinion and that you believe yours to be the only correct opinion.

"He continued to justify it..." (Paragraph 5)

By saying he was trying to justify something implies he did something wrong. What has he done wrong, besides liking a movie and wanting to share it with you? Just prior to this he states how there is an emotional connection to this movie for him. That is a reason for liking it. And his further "justifications" are him making observations about your taste in films.

"I told him that it was different..." (Paragraph 6)

This is a justification. Specifically, it is you attempting to justify why you believe he is wrong for liking a movie. Going on the next paragraph to state that there is a "HUGE difference" and that something is "actually good" - once again devaluing his opinion and putting your own above his. You are trying to justify why you hate this film.

And finally, you state:

"... calling him stupid might've crossed the line for him. I’m pretty sure that this comment is what made him mad, because it sparked a bigger argument. [...] I’ve called him stupid in other situations before, so I’m not sure why he’s making such a big deal about it now." (Paragraph 9)

Generally, most people don't insult their friend/roommate/coworker's intelligence. Now, if you had made clearer the type of humor the two of you share, and it's common for you both to call each other stupid, then I can see where the confusion may come from. However, the tone which can be read from this situation, was that you were genuinely dismissing your friend's intelligence over a movie opinion. And, when not disclosing what the argument itself was about, we cannot ascertain whether or not your friend actually finds humor in being called stupid, or if he ever calls you stupid in return.

Now that I have laid out some of the ways your comments have come across, let's get back to your original point.

You say you're "surprised you [those making the friend comments] have any lasting relationships if you're willing to break one off over a single differing opinion."

Now that we have gone through your tone in the initial post, as well as how people tend to perceive those comments... does any of that really feel like it is, specifically, about the difference in opinion? From my perspective, you do not value this friendship and you talk down to this person. If I were spoken to in this way I would feel hurt.

I have, actually, been spoken to this way. An old friend of mine would consistently talk down other people - myself included - such as insulting their intelligence or appearance, devaluing their opinions, and even ostracizing them if their opinions differed from hers. That friendship lasted a total of 6 months only, because I could not stand to be spoken to this way. And the funny thing is, we agreed on a lot of things! We had very similar taste in media - in fact they introduced me to one of my favorite book series at the time - and we were on par with each other academically, so we worked together often. Also, I was the first person to approach her when she was a new student.

On the flip side, I have plenty of friends who have differing opinions to me, that I have been friends with for years. A friend I've known for about 5 years now, for example. While we have our shared interests, the number of those interests have dwindled over time. He loves Attack on Titan. Personally, I think the show had an interesting concept, but I think it's boring the way it was executed towards the end of the first season. He really loves the live action version of One Piece, I will never watch it mainly because I am not interested in the anime, but even if I was, I really hate live action adaptations of animated media. This friend also dislikes some of the things that I enjoy - recently we were talking about certain shows and why we did or did not finish them. We got on the topic of books we read for classes, and had opposing opinions on each.

Yet the difference there is at no point do we say the other is wrong for enjoying a piece of media. At no point do we insult the other. At no point do we prioritize our own opinion over the other.

That is why people are saying they're surprised he is still friends with you. Because most people will not tolerate being spoken to like this.

Calling people stupid is insensitive comments.

Let us break down this response bit by bit, because each sentence is loaded.

"Lying to people is also insensitive. "

It is indeed insensitive! However, by this take, you are either saying that the majority of people responding to your submission are lying, or you are being hypocritical in your response to our comments. You imply in your original submission that you do not believe you are an asshole and that your friend has overreacted; what would you call this response to people's submissions? If you think your friend is overreacting to a truth, then why are you also overreacting to a truth? Is it because the truth does not align with what you initially believed to be true?

Or, if you genuinely think 3,042 people (2,963.818 YTA votes, 34.463 JAH votes, and 43.862 ESH votes - numbers in my total count were rounded up since you can't have partial people - but this only adds at most 3 people to my count) are lying to you about this... how? How would that many people all lie about this, if the voting is essentially blind until you vote; the comments on the post, after all, do not necessarily represent the majority. However, still, over three thousand people have decided that you are an asshole. How could that many people be lying to you specifically?

"He’s dumb, and the movie sucks."

If I talk more on how it is incredibly disrespectful to talk to someone you consider a friend in this manner, I will literally just be a broken record. And, I would like to ask again, how does YOUR opinion on a movie indicate SOMEONE ELSE'S level of intelligence?

"I’m only being honest."

Well, so are the people commenting. When on this blog, it is implied that people will vote and make judgements based on their honest opinion of the situation. If the person submitting disagrees with the end ruling, that's fine, but at the end of the day, you came to this blog to get other people's opinions assuming that they would be honest in those opinions.

So, why are you trying to dismiss the opinions that you saught out?

"It’s not my job to sugarcoat everything for him. He’s a grown man, he can take a bit of well-informed criticism."

It is not the internet's job to sugarcoat anything either. Hence why the result of this poll says you are the asshole; we did not sugarcoat our opinions for you. And, based on the information given in the initial submission, you are also a grown man, and should therefore be able to take a "bit of well-informed criticism". And yet, you are actively dismissing the criticism of hundreds of people.

Why is your opinion more well-informed? Why are you dismissing the opinion of the people online - that you, I will reiterate, saught out - and therefore would believe to be informed? Shouldn't you consider what has been said, reflect on the decisions you have made and actions you have taken, and use those inferences to move forward in this situation?

"If that upsets him, that isn’t my problem."

And, well, at the end of the day, it is not our problem if our opinions upset you, as they seemingly have. Please, feel free to prove me wrong, but the implications I get from reading through your response implies that being voted so strongly as an asshole combined with the harsh remarks of strangers on the internet has upset you. But that's not our problem, so really, is there any reason for anyone who has voted you an asshole, or commented on this situation, to care about how you feel?

This comment also returns to my point of how it is not the differing opinion that is the reason for ending relationships, but how it is your attitude. Right here you claim that your friend's emotions - directly caused by your actions and words - do not matter to you, and that you feel no remorse for hurting this person. This, often, is the sign of a terrible friend. And once again, if I were in your roommate's shoes, I would end the relationship beyond the professional, because someone who does not even care about my emotions in the slightest is not someone I would want in my life.

Egotistical comments

You say you can admit you're wrong... but are refusing to claim accountability for hurting your friend. This isn't about Avatar anymore, it's about the fact that you have hurt your friend, and you don't care. It is the way that you put your opinions above his, and belittle him for his own opinions. It is the way your tone implies that you think you are above him - and based on this response, above everyone who interacted with your submission, despite the fact that you came to us for advice on this situation.

Bait comments

Not much I can say here; there are rules against making these comments but unfortunately the AITA mod can only regulate the comments so much; especially when there are this many.

However, I will say, antagonizing the people who already think you are an asshole will not help you in explaining your actions more clearly or getting people to stop thinking that this is bait. And once again, you have completely missed the point of what has gotten people so angry at you.

This has only confirmed my belief that people online can’t think critically. You all seem to act erratically from the “advice” you’ve given him and I. If you knew him, you’d know that I’m right.

Well. You are a person online. Based on the fact that you submitted an ask here, and then followed up with a throwaway account, I have to assume that you are at the very least mildly active on social media - also known as being online - because you decided to make a Tumblr account.

However, I will agree with you that sometimes people online can't think critically. And, well, you are a prime example of this. You have failed to critically think about the nuances of opinions, you have failed to critically think about what is often socially acceptable in relationships (professional or platonic or even simply sharing a living space), and you have failed to analyze your own tone or address the issue people in the comments have actually brought to light.

And the thing is, you're also right that we don't know this friend. So we cannot for certain know that we're right and you're wrong, or vice versa. However, if that is the case, then it is because you have not adequately portrayed him or yourself, as our judgements have been made based on the information you have given.

In summary:

Your initial post was read, not as being about the opinion on Avatar, but as your attitude and treatment of a coworker. With the way you wrote, you came off as arrogant and pompous, and as though you don't actually see this person as a friend based on how often you seem to devalue his opinions.

Any comments on Avatar were likely made to get a rise out of you, as well as to point out that people do have differing opinions from your own. None are inherently wrong to have.

In the response you gave, you have only managed to further sour people's opinions of you. From my perspective, you cannot accept that you are the asshole, and when you initially submitted the ask, believed that people would be on your side. Upon finding out that people weren't on your side, you decided to antagonize those who ruled you an asshole and have not thought critically about your own response or actions despite seemingly believing you have.

( 🟦 🎞️ 🟦 )

AITA for telling my coworker that he’s stupid for liking an objectively TERRIBLE film?

I (27M) and my coworker (25M) usually have “movie nights” on our days off. We find time to sit down and watch a movie together. He’s usually agreeable on what movie I want to watch, but sometimes I do let him choose the movie, as long as I don’t find it too unbearable. (His taste in cinema is below average.)

Earlier today, he reminded me that neither of us were scheduled on Friday or Saturday, and he asked me if I wanted to do a movie night. I agreed, and asked him if he wanted to watch anything in particular. (This is more of a pleasantry. He usually never suggests anything specific when I ask this.)

Surprisingly, he said that he did have a movie in mind! Unfortunately, the movie he had in mind was the 2009 movie, Avatar. The one with the blue people.

After he said this to me, I laughed at him, because no one actually LIKES that movie. The best anyone can say is that it’s visually appealing! The plot is drawn out, bland, and not worth nearly three hours of my time. I asked him if he was serious about wanting to watch it, because I never took him for the type to enjoy something so dull.

He frowned at me and said that he'd watched it a few times with his ex-girlfriend when they were still dating, and that he’d really liked it… and not just for the visual aspect? He said that he wanted to watch it with me too. He continued to justify it by bringing up the fact that I like other sci-fi movies and shows, and that he didn’t see how this was any different from those.

I told him that it was different because there was no reason for a movie to go for so LONG and to give so LITTLE, and he started whining about the first Lord of the Rings movie (which we’d watched a few months ago) and how it was longer than Avatar.

I told him that there was a HUGE difference: LotR is actually good! This only seemed to upset him more. He scoffed at me, saying that I couldn’t see a good movie if it was right in front of me. He said this jokingly, but I could tell he was upset. I glared at him, but didn’t say anything.

After a few seconds of tense silence, he asked AGAIN if we could watch it on Friday, because I’m the one who always picks the movies, and that it was unfair that he never got to pick any. I told him no, because Avatar is an awful film, and that he was really stupid for liking it.

I don’t think I’m wrong for telling him that Avatar sucks, considering it’s common knowledge, but calling him stupid might’ve crossed the line for him. I’m pretty sure that this comment is what made him mad, because it sparked a bigger argument, which eventually led to him sleeping on the couch for the night. I’ve called him stupid in other situations before, so I’m not sure why he’s making such a big deal about it now.

I don’t think I’m the asshole… If I am, I’m definitely justified. The only reason I’m asking is because a close friend of mine (28X) said that I was too harsh about it, so now I'm second-guessing myself. AITA for telling my coworker that he’s stupid for liking an objectively TERRIBLE film?

#do i have better things to do with my time? maybe #was this actually fun and filled the void that came with no longer being in any english classes cause its summer? yes #aita mod im so sorry but i really really wanted to do this and i gave into the urge instead of just moving on. feel free to ignore this #although i gave my ruling in my very first rb of this submission lol #if this is too much to have in the reblogs feel free to delete it! ^^#i may not have better things to do but based on both the initial submission and the response neither does op

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tortoisenotturtle · 3 years ago

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Am I the only one who likes seeing muscular women in media more than muscular men?

Alright so, this one will probably end up much shorter and a little more ranty than I'd like, but this is kind of personal so be fairly warned.

Recently I've seen a few complaints about the new He-Man show and honestly, I fully understand and empathize with them. Whilst I haven't fully seen the show, from what I've viewed I can personally speaking agree (or at the very least understand) where most criticisms come from. I think it's incredibly shitty that the writer basically lied to his audience about how the show would run. Now normally I'd be fine with a twist such as He-man dying, but he's an important part of the show and the way the marketing & merchandising for it was running kind of comes across as him basically using He-Man's name to get people into the show. I also feel like it's fine to view Teela as obnoxious and annoying, nothing about her personality-wise seems likable to me. I also heard a few complaints about Orko's (I think that's his name, don't crucify me) backstory and how his character was handled.Yet as the title suggests one that didn't stick with me was the criticism of Teela and a general trend towards the criticism of women in media as being "masculine".

I've heard over and over that Hollywood representing strong women by giving them masculine traits is a bad thing and yet... I kind of don't get it? It feels odd to say, almost like I'm the dumbest man alive for admitting something which most people on the internet seem to be so sure about, yet I just don't understand where this is coming from. I've seen this thrown at She-hulk, Wonder Woman, Abby, and many other characters, yet when inquired it usually loops back around to, "Yeah they have muscles", and that's about it. This type of criticism in specific seems to overly focus on the appearance of said characters. It's the one critique I just can't get behind and it feels like at best it's a shallow criticism that fails to get its point across, and at worst it's actively demeaning to women who desire to or show masculine traits. But first, let me break this down into sections.

Section 1: Muscles =/= Masculinity (In my opinion at least)

Oh boy, I feel like this is a section that might rustle some feathers, but I'm going to try and explain myself best as possible. I simply do not view muscularity as a feature that is inherent to or should be inherent to men. I'm not going to pretend as if muscular men aren't more saturated in media and art, nor as if they're societally treated as masculine, but one of the reasons I fail to understand this criticism is that I see muscles beyond the horizons as being just a masculine trait.

I believe that muscles should instead be seen as a sign of hard work and determination. As someone who's currently trying (and struggling) to stay healthy and fit, it's much harder than a lot of media portrays it to be. It's a test where you push yourself to the limits, not just for the sake of doing it, but so you can improve as a person. Whenever I go to the gym and see a muscular gal or guy walk by, my immediate thought isn't, "how masculine" or anything like that my thought is, "wow! They worked hard to get like that, I should work hard as well!".

This interpretation tends to feel like it's just simply taking a piss on people who actively work hard to achieve higher levels of strength. Especially when society places and enforces these unrealistic standards onto people. If you don't have a six-quintillion pack nor can bench press a fucking house then you're worthless, of course, that is unless you actually attempt to pursue said standards which in that case you're automatically dismissed as cheating your way to gaining your muscles instead of putting any work in. And that's just for men who often don't have to deal with traditional idiots who are stuck in the year 1950 where I can't walk on the same street as them. My skin crawls when reading tweets from older men talking about how weightlifting women are "ruining their fertility" and I absolutely hate it when people in my life treat these women as if they're mythical creatures from a fairy tale, or when females who have trained to such a degree are simply dismissed as being inferior.

Obviously, I don't think the people who say this are like that, but whenever I hear this type of critique I can't help but think of the culmination of all these experiences I've gone through. But then again, this might honestly just be because I'm personally attracted to muscular women.

Section 2: Body type diversity

Another reason that I tend to like muscular women in media over muscular men is simply due to the sheer oversaturation of muscular men. Don't get me wrong, I have no problem if anybody likes muscular men. I totally get wanting to shove your face in between some man titties or get inspired by their physiques. In all honesty, almost everything I said earlier can directly apply to men, but one of the reasons I bring up body type diversity is that there tend to be much less muscular women than men. I

f anything, I'd have to say that muscular men are almost treated as the default when it comes to things like superhero comics, movies, video games, anime, etc. In a similar vein, the default for women tends to be slim and curvaceous, you get the drill. Whenever someone who doesn't fit into either body type shows up and isn't treated like a joke/gag or a character to rip on, I can't help but be happy about it. As much as I have no clue wtf is going on with TLOU2, I can appreciate that Abby's portrayal doesn't seem to exist solely as a joke meant to demean women for working out. I'm excited when an anime protagonist is a fat character who can go beyond just being a "fat guy" and is treated the same way a normal person would be.

Regardless of what you think about whatever trait you're criticizing, there's probably someone out there who fits it. If you're not into it or dislike it, then that's fine, but I'd rather have that expressed than it being actively made out as a harmful trope as opposed to just literally another body type that some women have.

Section 3: Muscular women inspire me more

Ok so, we've now blown into a full-on personal experience, buckle up boys, girls, NBs, anything in between, and I feel like I'm forgetting someone so apologies! But yeah, muscular women in media tend to be a lot more inspiring than people seem to give them credit for. This comes down to a mix of both the qualities I outlined earlier in what makes the characters inspiring but also plays into the idea of body diversity.

One of the traits that make amazons seem more inspiring is their inherent rarity/lack of screentime. As I stated earlier, whilst I do enjoy my fair share of man-titties, it kind of gets to a point where it's more depressing than inspiring when all you see is just super-models shoved in your face whenever you walk into a theater. If for every Goku I could find ten other guys who were on the chubbier side then I'd be able to take more from when I see Goku and other characters with his body type, yet it's so saturated that it no longer becomes something to aspire to, but simply the norm. It's not that you can work to become muscular or skinny with hard work and effort, you have to be muscular or skinny unless you want to be deemed a failure. Being chubby often isn't presented as a starting point but just treated as a defect. As someone who spent years battling with my own self-perception, that's just not a good message to get across.

Now, this obviously isn't to say that people can never make muscular characters. After all, it's their story so they can put whatever they want in it. The aim of the game isn't to stop people from making a specific type of character, but to encourage a diverse set of people to make a diverse set of characters. This is the reason why I view muscular women as so inspiring. Instead of coming across as just "the norm" or "the standard" they stand out from the crowd and despite knowing what they have to deal with, are still ready and willing to work out and improve their bodies. They had a goal in mind and set time aside to achieve said goal, that's something I can get behind.

Conclusion:

This will be another short section, but I just wanted to mention it because it caps off my thoughts on this post in general. What originally started as me just not getting the reason why people disliked Teela's design somehow turned into a passionate rant and I'm A) not sure if it fits on this particular subsection of the community, B) scared I'm going to get ripped to pieces, and C) somewhat unsatisfied with all that I said. At the end of the day, this probably won't be seen by too many people, but to those who do see it, I hope you have a wonderful day. I just wanted to talk about something that was near and dear to my heart and hoped that I made it clear why I view things the way I do.

P.S: Can we stop having this double standard where we act like women whose arms show the slightest hint of definition are "unrealistic" whilst men can look like tree trunks and be considered normal and healthy? please and thank you!

#rant post #character rant #please help I'm new to tumblr and a boomer when it comes to tags #tropes #trope discussion

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idreamtofmanderleyagain · 4 years ago

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Morality-Focused Frameworks Of Discussion As Acts of Control

This is a post in response to a larger conversation I’ve been having with @eshusplayground. I have a perspective that I think would be really relevant to the conversation but I also don’t want to derail the specific focus of the following posts she’s been making recently.

(Trigger Warning For Abuse Discussion and Brief Mentions of Rape)

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So I’m in the Hellraiser fandom. More specifically, I’m a Pinhead/Kirsty shipper.

For those of you that don’t know, Pinhead is a demonic torturer from hell who’s design is inspired by the BDSM community. Characters who open a magical puzzle box have unknowingly given themselves away to his violent underworld community of eternal torment and depravity. Hellraiser is a film about romantic and sexual horror, and there’s quite a lot in there about abuse and trauma. Kirsty is a traumatized person, and in my personal opinion, very likely a CSA victim.

And I ship these two characters together.

So the subject matter of my particular fandom is extremely intense and niche and complicated to navigate, although YMMV (I have no trouble with this franchise, but I cannot really handle GOT or American Horror Story, for example). After I grew interested in Hellraiser and integrated into it’s fandom, my perspectives about the way we have conversations about villainous characters started to have a major shift.

I often see people have these intense conversations (and arguments) about where a particular character exists on a moral scale, with the subtext (or outright text) that if they tip too far one way or another, they can be rendered unworthy of their own subgroup of fans within their own fandom. People who love those characters or find them shippable are then subject to moral judgements.

So how does one apply such logic to a psychosexual torture demon?

The answer is you can’t.

The frameworks people online use to have these discussions do not make any sense when talking about my fandom. Hellraiser is a dark horror fairytale presenting disturbing, surreal images and behaviors in order to discuss complex and difficult experiences and perspectives. The monsters within it, like Pinhead, are more metaphor than anything.

Now, my follower count is too low and my fandom is too niche for me to really be on the receiving end of a lot of the cruelty that manifests online about the moral validity of the fiction I enjoy. That said, between the anti-kink TERFS and the younger folks involved in purity culture on this site, I can imagine exactly what it would look like. You know what they would look like.

“You’re an Abuse Apologist!”

“You’re an Abuse Fetishist!”

“You’re reinforcing sexism!”

“he’s an irredeemable torturer, you’re probably okay with literal real world rape lmao uwu”

“This is bad kink representation and you’re complicit in the abuse real men do to women because you like this!”

Now, setting aside the fact that the canon lore context of Pinhead involves him having a human soul brainwashed by a monster god to become what he is, and is also in a roundabout sense “redeemed” in canon, I think most people utilizing this kind of framework would assume that I believe Pinhead can be redeemed in the way online Discourse (tm) means it, because that’s how we talk in fandom about the villains we really like.

I do not want to redeem Pinhead. I don’t think he even needs redeeming. I don’t even see value in that conversation at all. Redemption is not a concept that makes sense for what he is, or what he could become as a character. The framework of Pinhead as a Real-World-Equivalent Human Male Abuser who Cannot Be Redeemed From His Actions would inevitably dominate all conversation, regardless of the fact that it is inherently incorrect and detrimental to real, robust literary analysis of the narrative he exists within and how brilliantly it actually interacts with male on female abuse as a subject. By nature of it’s gross oversimplification and misrepresentation, It ruins the potential for greater, more nuanced and complex conversations.

And that’s the thing: my engagement with this particular story and it’s characters has a lot to do with the potential in the narrative to examine how trauma interacts with love, desire and gender politics. Hellraiser has a very unique way of exploring that kind of subject through a storytelling aesthetic that appeals to me (horror/fairytale, gothic romance, etc).

This is about to get personal, so strap the fuck in.

I am the victim of gendered abuse, in that I had an emotionally abusive step father and sexism was absolutely a factor in why that manifested the way it did. I am also a second hand victim of gendered abuse, in that my biological father was a serial stalker and rapist, and other male abusers (or just self-centered family members) caused severe emotional destabilization in my childhood. I grew up viewing adult men as unstable, selfish children. My family endured a lot, and I came to resent the men in my mother’ life for not taking on the role of protector and nurturer when she needed them most. I had discovered the great lie of traditional masculinity: in the face of real crisis, grown men were not protectors. They did not hold together the domestic space. They abused or faltered and abandoned us. This was a repeated pattern among several men in different roles. I was often left picking up all the pieces, taking on roles as a child that these men could not. I had to have strength they did not.

My experience of desire for romantic intimacy with men and men in roles of stable, nurturing authority now inherently involves a jumbled emotional soup of fear, pain, and a deep longing that comes from a place of feminine vulnerability, a desire to be taken care of instead of being the caretaker.

The narrative of Hellraiser pushes a lot of buttons for me. It speaks to my own trauma experiences in a very specific way. In an effort to further that conversation, I’m trying to create a piece of art (a fic) inspired by the deeply personal feelings this film gives me.

For me, Pinhead represents the Jungian shadow masculine, a simultaneous mix of fear and desire, the potential for suffering and pleasure, and everything in between. These experiences are inherently intertwined for me. And Kirsty’s experiences mirror many of my own.

In other words, in order for me to get out of Hellraiser what I get out of Hellraiser, Pinhead has to be exactly what he is, and everything that he is. Which includes monstrosity. Which includes the potential for change. His place in the narrative must fully, truly embody this conversation I need to have with masculinity, which inherently involves painful, scary things.

Anybody demanding that I either denounce my interest in him as morally offensive because he’s a monster in the full sense of the word (and not just the aesthetic one like what is currently trending in Monster Boyfriend fandom), or force a traditional redemption arc upon him as if he were a real life human person who must repent for his real life sins, are essentially saying that I am not allowed to engage with this work of fiction in a way that is transformative for me. And that’s very unfortunate, because honestly, I think my perspective is so much more dynamic and has so much more to offer.

This is not just about basic catharsis. This is not even a power fantasy about emotionally transforming a powerful (white) dude, or “bad boy” fantasies, both standard arguments for villain stanning that feels like it has never truly represented me or the complexity of my experiences and interests. This is a full-on conversation and act of self expression I want to have through art about the experience of fear and trauma when dealing with men as a woman who desires men.

And I don’t think a person has to be traumatized in order to want to engage with this type of fiction. I want to be clear that my experience is not a justification for my interest (I do not need to justify myself), it is an example of a perspective that gets erased by the framework of these conversations.

To me, the framework of moral validity for enjoying fictional villains and monsters and whatever you please feels incredibly stifling to the complex, dynamic ideas and analysis that I want to engage in, because I, and many people I know, are consistently pressured to structure their thoughts with this framework as the only acceptable baseline of discussion. This is so ubiquitous that when people I’ve known have tried to engage in ways that diverge from that framework, the responses they get are outright confused or direct the conversation right back to the original framework they tried to avoid. Complex conversation gets steamrolled.

Somewhere in the conversation we were all having about acknowledging and discussing abuse and oppression, and acknowledging troubling patterns in media which reinforce the normalization of abuse and opression, some people decided that there was a very serious moral discussion to be had regarding the mere act of liking things which involve dark subject matter and complex, or even monstrous characters. They now argue that there are very clear cut, simple moral frameworks for A) telling stories and B) enjoying stories, and most importantly, that this moral framework is a valid justification for the social treatment and silencing of certain people.

A framework, by the way, which I think is actually not functionally a framework, because like the toxic American fundamentalist christian groups it’s thinking is structured from, it does not account for the vastly diverse moral landscape within it’s own space. There is no objectively consistent body of knowledge anybody is working from, because morals are derived from the human experience, which is inherently subjective.

Interestingly, no where does this have more of an impact than with marginalized people, and people like me, who want to express something deeper and more meaningful in the conversation about abuse and oppression than what this framework really offers us. To be honest, The more I see this kind of conversation making the rounds, the clearer it becomes that it’s a means of control and power game playing. It’s not about morality, but about how morality can be leveraged in order to silence truly diverse and nuanced perspectives and uphold people’s sense of self-comfort. It is a means of supplanting more convenient and easily digestible understandings of these highly complex subjects that require more intensive, thoughtful engagement, especially when it gets challenging. This kind of rhetoric absolves people of making room for complex and diverse experiences, and reinforces an (at face-value) easy to follow set of moral rules of how we are all allowed to think and feel.

The implication of all of this is that if we all adhere to the One True (alleged) Moral Framework of Fandom Engagement, then we will somehow come out on the other side with all the Good People having a Great Time having Squeaky Clean Fun. And I don’t think I should have to tell you at this point how stifling and disturbing the implications of that kind of mentality really are.

Quite frankly, I think a lot of us are very tired of constantly speaking on other people’s terms.

#abuse tw #rape tw #Fandom #Hellraiser

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babbushka · 4 years ago

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Imagine making a character who is ethnically Jewish but not culturally Jewish, very culturally Jewish, and trying to shove that head cannon down everyone’s throats.😸 I understand having head cannons and everything 100% but trying to force other people to accept them as true is just wrong. If a movie chacter states that he didn’t grow up culturally Jewish and still isn’t culturally Jewish, why try to make everyone believe that he is? You feel so strongly about Flip actually being culturally Jewish and that being a fact but why? The movie and what his lines in the film are based on this issue, prove everything you claim to be true, as false. I think instead of trying to strongarm everyone into believing what you want to believe, you should be open to other interpretations of a character and let others have an opinion.

I really don’t know how many times I have to explain myself about this, but in the vain effort to attempt to get people to understand, I offer these four points.

Firstly, I don’t force anyone to do anything. If someone doesn’t want to read my interpretation of a character, that’s fine, they don’t have to read it. I make it very clear upfront the sort of Flip that I write, and I have for the past 3 years. If that’s not your jam, then fine. But you continuing to read/follow and getting angry that I’m somehow forcing writing that you clicked on down your throat, isn’t my problem. The beauty of a fictional character is that we can take the basis of what canon has given us and expand on it in our own ways. I’m not trying to convince anyone, or make anyone believe anything. I’m just posting my interpretation of the character. On occasion I bring up the antisemitic practice (because yes as much as you don’t want to think it is, it’s antisemitic) of people erasing his Jewishness or replacing it with another religion, but that’s only when people come here asking for my opinion.

Secondly, I do feel strongly about Flip being culturally Jewish because I am, in fact, a Jewish person. And I, as a Jewish person, found Flip’s story and acceptance of his identity to be compelling and relatable. I feel so strongly about him being culturally Jewish the same way that I feel strongly about modern!Kylo being culturally Jewish, or Luke Skywalker being gay. I know it may be hard to believe but sometimes people like seeing themselves represented in the media that they consume. And sometimes people have to make that content happen for themselves, because god knows no one else will. And sometimes, very rarely, people are finally given a character that might represent them. Maybe it’s only in some small way, but it’s better than nothing -- and more importantly, it’s the seeds that content creators get to use to write the stories that they wish were being told.

Thirdly, the lines and everything he says in the film point in a direction of vagueness that’s the whole foundation for my interpretation. His entire character arc is about him coming to terms with his identity and how he’s been passing for a goy his whole life. The literal point of his arc is to show personal growth and change through the way he reexamines his place in the world, and his privilege. I offer you these (rhetorical) questions in return: Why can he not then go on from that point after the credits roll, to want to get in touch with his culture and heritage? Why can he not decide post-canon to explore his Jewishness? Why is it always such a point of contention where people have to scramble and say “but he’s not REALLY jewish!!” any time a Jewish person tries to cultivate a Jewish character? The Flip & His Jewish Wife AU is just that, it’s an AU. That writing exists in its own particular universe and I make sure to note that. But why is it always a specifically Jewish AU (about a canonically Jewish character) that constantly gets brought under scrutiny for being unrealistic or OOC? In a fandom where we can explore so many incredible things, why is wanting to explore a Jewish man’s relationship to Judaism the most damning thing possible?

And lastly, I cannot stress how frustrating it is to constantly be told that my Flip is too Jewish, when he is one of the only canonically Jewish characters Adam has played that I actually enjoy. I cannot stress enough, how frustrating it is, being a Jewish creator and constantly having to defend why I would possibly find comfort in a Jewish character, why I would want to write a Jewish character to be more accepting or aware of his Jewishness -- especially from strangers on the internet who could very well just move on with their lives if they don’t happen to like the way I write. Fandom at large has made it excruciatingly clear that they don’t like Jewishness in their fanworks, but that’s genuinely truly not my problem. Whatever weird hangup people have about seeing Jewish people write Jewish characters having fulfilling and fleshed out lives and backstories is also not my problem.

TLDR; Write what you want, and read what you want. But don’t police a Jewish author on when and how she should write Jewish characters that bring her comfort, or how she should feel when Jewish characters are treated with such obvious prejudice, especially when there are so fucking few to begin with.

#flip zimmerman #if i never get this question again it'll be too soon #i'm so sick and tired of this conversation #i'm seriously going to just start blocking people who bring stuff like this into my inbox again #Anonymous

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thefloatingstone · 5 years ago

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If you’re doing Self Quarintine (and you should be if you can help it) here’s some Youtube recommendations! Some of these I have posted about or recommended before but with almost all of us stuck indoors now’s a good time to remind you of some cool things you can watch for free!

I’m not gonna imbed the videos, I’ll just post the link because otherwise I would only able to post 5 and I want to collect a few so you can make a playlist or something. (I could make a playlist too but then I couldn’t tell you what each video is and you can’t pick and choose which one sounds interesting to you)

In no particular order:

Polybius: The video Game that doesn’t exist

An hour long documentary in which the youtuber did extensive research to find the origin of the “Polybius” Urban Legend, which speaks of an early arcade game reportedly seen around the early 1980s which reportedly gave people migraines, insomnia, nausea, subliminal messages, and in some cases heart attacks.

The Universal S

A shorter video in which LEMMiNO does his very best to try and track down where exactly this S that we all drew in middle school comes from? Why does literally every country on earth seem to HAVE their children draw this S?

I also recommend LEMMiNO’s video on the Dayltov Pass Incident and the perplexing UFO cases

Down the Rabbit Hole: Henry Darger

Fredrick Knudsen has an incredible fascinating series called “Down the Rabbit Hole” which simply focuses on... anything you can discover and go digging into. From weird internet personalities, to bizarre happenings in history. This video is about the artist Henry Darger, a man who lived in the early 1900s and for all intents and purposes had a perfectly average, lonely life, until it was discovered just before his death he had spent literally decades writing and drawing a fantasy world in what is possibly the longest piece of literature ever written.

I also recommend his video on the Hurdy Gurdy

Bedtime Stories Channel

I’m actually just gonna link the whole channel for “Bedtime Stories”. If you like weird and creepy stories, all of which at least claim to be “true” then Bedtime Stories is great. Coupled by illustrations and subtle sound effects, Bedtime Stories is literally listening to someone tell you a story about such things like hikers who mysteriously went missing, Sightings of Bog Men in Florida and giant Birds over Chernobyl, as well as weird and unsettling murders that remain unsolved. Sometimes the facts are a little dubious or have been disproved, but that’s not the point of the channel. It’s here to tell a creepy story, not give you a documentary.

A Journey Through Rule of Rose

Rule of Rose is a Survival Horror gave for the PS2 which has rather bad gameplay... but a FASCINATING story with just as many layers and symbolism as Silent Hill 2 could boast. It tells the story of one young woman traveling back into her own childhood in an orphanage in the 1930s, and all the horrors that contains. From repressed grief, abusive relationships, child neglect, abuse, and bullying... but it ALSO contains symbolism of societal class structure, politics, eating the rich, and how power structures work. Not for the faint of heart, but HIGHLY recommended.

I also super highly recommend his video on the similarities between Silent Hill 2 and Solaris

Clemps Reviews Crisis Core

Mr. Clemps is a great internet gamer who reviews JRPGs and other games he simply enjoys. Sprinkling in a heavy dose of comedy and very fast jokes and observations, Clemps’ videos are always upbeat, fun, and incredibly enjoyable to watch. I’m linking part 1 of his Crisis Core video in which he explains why the PSP game remains a personal favourite of his despite its flaws.

I also recommend his video on Eternal Sonata

Defunct TV: The History of Dragon Tales

Defunctland is a channel that deals with theme parks and theme park rides that are no longer standing, or which are no longer around in their current form. Defunctland also has a sub series though, called “Defunct TV” where they look at the origin of children’s TV which are no longer airing. I recommend the video on Dragon Tales which is incredibly wholesome, and a genuinely uplifting and soft story of good people trying to make good things for children. (I also recommend the videos on Bear in the Big Blue House, Zoboomafoo, and Legends of the Hidden Temple)

Hagan’s Histories of Polar Exploration

A Playlist for Diamanda Hagan’s videos about the doomed Franklin Expedition from the late 1800s, where England tried to find a passage through the Northern Arctic to the Pacific Ocean. This went horribly horribly wrong, with every member of the Expedition dead. Over a 100 years later we are still fuzzy on what EXACTLY happened, but apart from the arctic chill, there is also evidence of faulty canned food, a series of bad decisions, and cannibalism. Caution advised for this series.

I also recommend the rest of Diamanda Hagan’s channel. She is NOT for everyone, but if you enjoy somebody reviewing Z grade indie movies as well as just BIZARRE films, really bad Christian media bordering on Science Fiction (without making fun of religion itself) hot takes of classic (and modern) Dr. Who, an introduction to Red Dwarf, She’s an EXCELLENT channel to check out.

Good Bad or Bad Bad: Pass Thru

A half podcast half review show where two guys watch a terrible film, decide if it’s “Good” Bad or just Bad Bad and tell you if you should watch it too.

That’s it. That’s the whole show.

I recommend diving into the untold madness that is one of the best(?) bad film makers currently still producing batshit insane movies, the immortal Niel Breen.

There is literally nothing I can say that’ll prepare you for Niel Breen.

(I also recommend their more recent video for “Dancin’ It’s on!”)

History Buffs: Apollo 13

Do you like History? Do you like movies ABOUT History? Do you want to know if the movies about history you watch actually resemble what really happened in any way at all? History Buffs is an EXCELLENT channel, which does talk about the merit of a film itself, but is mainly focused on letting you know just how true to life that historical film you watch is. I highly recommend his longest video which covers the space race between the USA and the USSR, leading to what is known as “The most Successful Failure in NASA’s History”. The Infamous Apollo 13 and where the words “Houston, we have a problem” came from.

If you’re not interested in Apollo 13 however, I also recommend his video on the movie Casino, as well as his video on the female philosopher, Agora.

The Internet Historian: The Goodening of No Man’s Sky

With videos with literally MILLIONS of views, you probably already know the Internet Historian. But I still want to recommend him very highly because his videos are just THAT good and entertaining. I recommend his newest video, documenting that time we were all pissed off about No Man’s Sky, the difficulties the game studio was in when the game released, and how they have been working hard to finally create what is now a truly brilliant game which is winning major awards. A really good underdog story of how a video game company actually saw what was wrong with their game, and FIXED it.

I also recommend his video on Fallour 76 as well as the Failure of Dashcon

8 Creepy Video game mysteries

Hey. Did you know that sometimes there’s some REALLY weird shit in video games, hidden easter eggs which took literal decades to find as well as just a lot of “what the actual fuck?”. Oddheader is a channel with a dedicated discord and Reddit form solely focusing on trying to find or replicate bizarre video game finds, mysteries, and hidden glitches. Even if it means getting in his car and driving to a specific arcade just to check a rumour about Street Fighter II’s arcade version. So if you like getting spooked by weird game shit that’s not just some dumb creepypasta, this is a great place to start.

I also recommend his video on weird discoveries in DVDs and movies.

Red Letter Media: Best of the Worst

Look you already know who Red Letter Media is.

You know... these guys:

Here’s a video of them and Macaulay Culkin watching 3 terrible movies together.

I recommend literally any and all of their videos. Their discussion on Carpenter’s The Thing is amazing.

The Impact of Akira: The film that changed Everything

Ok trying to pick just ONE Super Eyepatch Wolf video is literal torture. Originally I was going to suggest his recent video on Final Fantasy 7 for the PSone but I realised I recommended something FF7 related with Clemps, so instead I will recommend The Impact of Akira, a video talking in depth about Akira both as a film as well as a manga, how it completely and utterly changed the anime industry both in Japan as well as the west, and why it is still a meaningful and one of the most important anime/manga even to this day, still being unsurpassed despite so much competition.

However, ALL of Wolf’s videos are incredible, so I also recommend his videos on wrestling (despite me not caring about wrestling at all), His video on how media scares us, The bizarre reality of modern Simpsons, Why the Dragon Ball Z manga is great, and literally any other video he’s made. He hasn’t made one bad video yet.

Was Oblivion as Good as I remember?

Exactly what it says on the tin. The Salt Factory goes back to playing The Elder Scrolls Oblivion and now with hindsight and modern sensibilities, gives feedback on his experience and whether Oblivion still holds up. This isn’t a super in depth review of the game’s mechanics or how its put together or how it was made. This is simply one guy talking about his experience replaying it with somejokes thrown in and how he felt revisiting it. It’s pretty good.

I also recommend the video he did on Morrowind (because I’m biased).

Weird Japan Only PS1 games

Thor High Heels is SO GOOD and deserves SO MUCH MORE subs than he currently has. THH focuses a lot of obscure and lesser known games as well as big popular titles like the Yakuza series, talking about what he likes about them, what he thinks is cool, and just what kind of atmosphere and mood a certain game has, even if the game itself is kind of ass. He’s done several videos on games that were only released in Japan, as well as videos talking about the fashion in Squaresoft games and how it inspired as well as was inspired by real world street fashion, the aesthetic of PC-98 games and other topics. He also styles his videos and thumbnails after promotional art for video games from the 90s and generally just has an excellent style to his channel over all. Very chill.

Blue Reflection Review

ValkyrieAurora is a channel run by Sophie where she talks about games she personally likes and enjoys. Her videos are really laid back and her voice is really calm and pleasant to listen to. She’s made a bit of a reputation for herself as “The channel that talks about the Atelier Games” and general is just a really enjoyable channel worth checking out if you just want something soothing to listen to.

Ancient Chinese Historians Describe Japan

Voices from the Past is a channel were historical text is read out loud in english. These can be anything like the above video where Chinese historians describe the people of Japan around 297 AD, Accounts of “Dog-Men”, or the worlds oldest letter of complaint from 1750 BC. If you’d like something interesting historically to listen to but don’t want a full blown history lesson, this is a really good way to hear contemporary people talk about their experiences and what they thought about each other in their own words, without opinions or input given by the narrator.

The Most Mysterious Song on the Internet

Whang! is a channel that covers weird internet stories, some horrifying, some curious and interesting, and some just plain weird. His video on The Most Mysterious Song on the Internet and its update, are about a song which was recorded off the radio in Germany around the 1980s, and after one person online asked if anyone knew who the artist was as they couldn’t find any information, led to the realization that NOBODY online knows where this song came from or who sang it. It’s a fun mystery to look into that, unlike some others on this list, is not creepy or unsettling, although perhaps a little frustrating.

I also recommend his video on The Most Mysterious Anime theme song, and the haunted Ebay Painting.

5 Lost, Destroyed, and Locked away Broadcasts

Yesterworld is similar to the Defunctland channel in that it talks about obsolete rides, theme parks and other forgotten pieces of entertainment. Although the majority of the channel focuses on movie rides, rollercoasters and Disneyland, I recommend the video on lost and locked away broadcasts which you can no longer see. I also recommend the video about Lost and Rediscovered movie props.

The Nightmare Artist

I talked about this one recently as I just discovered this channel. This video is about the renowned Polish artist Zdzislaw Beksinski who painted surreal and horrifying paintings during his lifetime. There is no mystery here or anything like that, it merely talks about the impact WWII left on Beksinski and how the trauma his country and people suffered influenced his painting, and how certain images and motifs can be seen to directly reference this terrible part of Poland’s history.

Disabilities in Prehistory

Modern media likes to portray how “savage” the ancient past is, and tell us stories of how any person born with a deformity or disability would be thrown over a cliff or dumped in a well because they would be too big a drain on a community to look after. But here’s the thing... according to archaeological evidence, it turns out our ancient ancestors actually did their best to look after its disabled members to the best of their abilities. This video talks about archaeological finds of people who had genetic disabilities and what we can learn from their remains. TREY the Explainer is a great channel for archaeology and also talking about what answers we could have for sightings of cryptids. (not ALL of which we have answers for)

I also recommend his video on Pre-Contact dogs as well as Homosexuality in Nature and the Genetic History of the Ainu.

Decoding “The Secret: A treasure Hunt”

“The Secret” was an art book released in the 80s full of beautiful paintings, but it is also more than that. The book has a fantasy story talking about 12 fantastical races who left wonderful treasures for humans to find,and the book’s paintings and riddles will tell you where you can find each of these treasures which are yours to keep if you can solve the puzzle... and the treasures are 100% true and can actualy be found and claimed, if you can solve the riddles in the book. The video tells the story of the artbook, who was behind it, what the treasures are, how many have been found and various other facts and details.

I also recommend the videos on this channel “The Game: A scavenger Hunt” and “The investigation of Erratas”.

5 Ancient Inventions That Were WAY Ahead Of Their Time

I would recommend you be careful with this channel as its main focus is existentialism and rather alarming topics such as “how close are we to the apocalypse” and other things whose titles alone are enough to upset me. However this video is nothing like that. This video is exactly what the title suggests it is. 5 ancient inventions that were so incredibly ahead of their time you’d think they were made up. From the computer used by ancient Greeks to steel swords we don’t know how to replicate, this video is a great mix of mystery and history.

Although I caution you with this channel, I recommend Joe’s other videos about mysterious books, as well as his video on the most inbred people in history.

However, I know I keep repeating this, I highly recommend caution with this channel. Perhaps its just me and the topics of life and existent are just triggering for me, but I’d recommend maybe just doing a search for the titles I mentioned and not to go searching through the video library unless you’re not bothered by this kind of thing.

Anyway I could keep going, but I think that’s a LARGE amount of videos to keep you occupied for the time being as well as some suggestions for further viewing.

Please enjoy, let me know if you found something interesting, and look after yourself!

If you enjoyed this list at all, please consider tipping me for a coffee

☕️ Ko-fi ☕️

#self isolation #Youtube #Links #Recommended #recommendations #documentary #long post #ask to tag #tumblr ate the 'read more' I put on this so screw it #Just scroll past or hit J to skip this if you want #No editing we die like men

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a-method-in-it · 4 years ago

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Trans(masculine) former Potterhead here! I still own the books, were a gift, a hardcover set from my mom from years ago. I even made a parody of Im a Lumberjack and I'm OK from Monty Python as I'm a Hufflepuff and I'm OK and helped found a Dumbledore's Army club at my High School I loved HP so much, I was obsessed, but now I have so many mixed emotions about the franchise I don't really know what to do.

I cannot speak for trans women, but as a queer trans person, if I see someone reading the books or watching the movies or wearing merch its like. Ok. I know I might get along with this person, they like the same stuff I (used to) like....BUT do they know how the werewolf thing is about AIDS, implying gay people are out of control monsters, and how the only villain with werewolfism specifically targets minors, implying pedophilia is a trait inherent in gay people? Do they know that when a trans woman reads the books they worry they wont be "woman enough" to keep the stairs in the girls dorm from turning into a slide, because they know that the author specifically thinks they don't deserve to sleep in the girl's dorm because of their gentials? Do they understand that JK Rowling's opinions are there, insidiously rooting into young minds? Are they reading this critically? Or do they support what JK is saying? Do they know all of these things and not care about it, dismiss it out of hand?

Does this person want me dead?

It boils down to a Feeling of Unease. Is this person safe for me to be around? There is a Very Real Danger that the person in the Ravenclaw Shirt and Golden Snitch Earrings is going to call the police on a trans woman going to the bathroom, or beat her, or even kill her, because the author of their favorite series has convinced them trans women are men in dresses and that men in women's bathrooms are dangerous. That person could also be a nice genuine nerd, queer themselves, even potentially a friend, but now I am Suspicious of that person. I am suspicious of anyone who openly enjoys it (unless they are children, kids don't know better, or if they have a tattoo, idk how old that tat is). They want to read it at home and want a discussion on new themes and how to make it better/less gross? Fine by me.

But if someone is publicaly supportting her, staying extremely active in the fandom defending the books or movies or JK herself, having and wearing merch which could direct new people (probably kids! Who will get Obsessed! And don't know better!) into buying things from her and giving her money? After all that she's done? After she literally helped create legislation against being trans?? Not cool.

The series is just simply tainted for a lot of trans folk like me. I still hold it dear foe what it did for me as a child, and I know if I read the series again I would still love it, but I would also HATE myself for enjoying it, knowing that the person who wrote this, the bit of her soul which she has given me, wants me dead. Wants my friends dead.

So I'm not really saying if you support HP publicaly people will see you as a TERF but I am also absolutely saying that people will see you as a TERF if you publicaly support the HP franchise. Death of the author is well and good when the author is dead and/or their estate doesn't get any money for new books or merch purchased, but she is alive and actively trying to kill trans folks, so literally anything that could be seen as support of her, or get others to support her even accidentally, can make trans folk uncomfortable and feel unsafe.

Hope this helped? I know I'm not the original asker, this is just my two cents.

Hi there! Thank you for posting this lengthy and very thoughtful response (and I hope you don’t mind my answering publicly -- if so, let me know and I’ll delete). There is one (admittedly very long) thing I’d like to say in response, but if you’re not looking for that, just know that I really value hearing your perspective and you can feel free to skip all of this and carry on your way.

---

You say that you would probably enjoy the books if you reread them, but would hate yourself for doing so -- and I just want to say that what you like does not make you a bad person or act as any valid basis for deserving hate, from yourself or anyone else.

Like, for instance, I’m a person who cannot stand horror movies and I am genuinely confused that anyone would enjoy watching terrible things happen to people for 90+ minutes. But I would never say that people who like horror movies are bad people just because they do enjoy that. The same goes for violent video games -- I don’t like them, but I don’t think the people who do are bad.

Because what media you personally enjoy has really no bearing on whether you are a good person. Being a good person is about how you treat others, whether you are kind, whether you are patient, whether you are understanding, whether you help people when you can and show up for the people in your life when they need you. It has nothing to do with whether you like a particular book or movie or videogame.

So if you do want to reread those books because you think they would bring you joy, I hope that you do.

Long before she became a TERF -- (and for the record, I don’t think that she was actively and consciously transphobic at the time when she was writing the books, for the simple reason that most of the people who are TERFs today weren’t at that point) -- I had already gotten used to tuning out Rowling and her fondness for Word of God pronouncements.

Like, Dumbledore being gay actually fit into the canon very well, but others? They just felt tired and not thought-out and her whole short history of American magic was incredibly lazy. The werewolfism=AIDS thing was offensive in very real ways--and also it should be noted just does not make sense as a metaphor. Not just because AIDS will kill you and being a werewolf will not and there’s no way to bridge that fundamental disconnect -- but also because the way people talk about being a werewolf in the damn books doesn’t resemble at all the way people talk about AIDS patients in real life. Which makes me think she didn’t actually mean for it to be a metaphor when she wrote it and then years later threw it out there because it sounded good to her in the moment because she hadn’t thought it through.

By the time we got to wizards shitting on the floor because she very clearly forgot that she had already had chamber pots referenced in the text, I was long-since tapped out.

Which is all just to say that it is beyond fair for you to use being a fan of Harry Potter as a data point in gauging your safety as a trans person -- but if we’re talking just about you enjoying the books?

Well, in that case, fuck Rowling and her weird post-canon comments that half the time don’t even make sense. If she wanted trans girls to not be allowed up the stairs to the girls’ dormitory, she should have put it in the damn text. As far as I’m concerned, trans girls and trans boys are allowed up whichever staircase matches their sense of themselves (and, I like to think, nonbinary kids get the run of the whole tower).

In fact, as far as I’m concerned, she lost the right to have me care what she says about the Harry Potter universe when all of her comments started being unbearably lazy, asinine, and/or nonsensical. If she’d been half this uninspired and careless when writing the actual books, I would have stopped reading them.

This has been a very long reply on that single point, but I want to end by saying that the point is, even if I accepted the premise that liking the Harry Potter books is in and of itself wrong -- and I hope I’ve made something of a case that it’s not -- it still shouldn’t be something you hate yourself over. Short of actually murdering people, I’m not sure there’s anything that’s grounds to outright hate yourself, honestly, but liking a book is definitely not on the list.

Either way, you seem like a lovely person, one who is very thoughtful and has been very patient and generous with your time in writing all of that out. I hope that you find ways to also be a little more patient and generous with yourself -- about Harry Potter or any other topic -- because you deserve that and you do not deserve to be hated by anyone, least of all yourself. And I also hope you have a good rest of your night.

#method speaks #jk rowling discourse #but this my friends #i think #is the end of it for me for a while #she sucks #on multiple levels #the transphobia being the worst #and then just going right on down the list #it confuses me #that the woman who wrote Prisoner of Azkaban #became this #but life is strange #and here we are #theflowerpunknerd

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sanstropfremir · 4 years ago

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I absolutely LOVED reading your kingdom review. You gave me such an insight in things I never even considered, especially since our rankings are so different from each other. The Boyz was my favorite, the narrative was about RTK. How they felt bad for having to compete against their friends but eventually the groups only lifted each other up and it helped TBZ grow into the group they are now through the hardships and mental dilemma, falling into the next challenge right after they reached the top. It should have been more obvious though, I agree, it wasn't really visible for anyone who didn't know. I was wondering how you felt about the dancing in general? my reason for not ranking BTOB high was lack of choreo (and Peniel's verse), same goes for SF9. Mostly because I don't feel the hype when watching, it doesn't keep my focus on the stage. As a baby-performer myself, my goal is to make the viewer curious about what's next. is that the wrong way to look at it? that's what I've always been told, building the tension up and down to create focus. would love to hear your feedback on that! thank you so much for sharing, we need more reviews of people who actually know what they're talking about.

i'm glad that you got some insight from it! like i answered in the previous ask im here to hopefully bring some more depth and understanding for people that care and are curious!

you unintentionally proved my point about tbz’s performance: that is way too complicated! even the most talented solo dancers i can think of would have trouble distilling that down to something readable in 100 seconds, much less a group of like, a dozen people! the introductory stages are meant to show us the character of the group and their abilities in the most concise way possible, it's not the stage to do deep philosophical and emotional introspection. for a full stage? absolutely, go hog wild! but for this stage it was too ambitious and ultimately was ineffective to anyone that isn't a fan of them specifically.

by dancing in general do you mean like, every group? i put most of my opinions on the dancing where i had them in each of the individual rankings but honestly? unless there is something that really stands out positively or negatively, a lot of ‘average’ kpop dance looks the same to me. i know it’s not, obviously, and if pressed i probably could do a more serious breakdown, but dance is only one element of performance. it has equal weight with all the others in my mind, and therefore i notice when it is either

very good

does something unique

very bad, or

interferes with another element

which is the same as how i evaluate every element, if that makes sense.

hmmmm. i thought about this a lot in the shower and turns out i had more opinions that i expected so i'll put them under a cut.

firstly, i don't think lack of choreo should be penalized or considered an ‘incomplete’ performance. at the end of the day, these are bands, and a part of their brand/product they sell is the music. complex choreo does not need to be attached to that to make it a successful performance. also, btob did have choreo. any movement on stage is technically choreography. but this terminology can cause confusion so usually non-dance choreo is referred to as ‘blocking.’ but they also did include the song’s original point choreo at 1.41. the blocking in their performance was well thought out and suited the arrangement, by placing spatial emphasis on each part of the song that needed it. obviously it comes down to personal taste if the performance is ultimately ‘successful,’ because all art is subjective, but just because something isn't as visually complex as something else doesn’t mean it doesn't have the same level of thought. think of it like this: one is a super clean-lined post-post-modern grey/white living room, and the other is a kitsch goth basement. both share interior design principles and have obvious care put into the space, but they are vastly different styles that appeal to different tastes.

part of the job of production designer/AD is to decide what gets emphasis. a question you're always asking yourself is ‘is this important to the story that we’re trying to tell?’ and btob/their AD made a very smart choice with their introductory stage because it says a lot about them and their abilities in a short amount of time. that stage said ‘our foundation is strong, we have the training and experience and confidence to be up here and not rely on visual tricks.’ because they know they physically cannot do the things the 4th gen groups can; they're a decade older and they only have four members, it's just not feasible. something you learn with experience is the power that specific and pointed emphasis holds, which segues into my answer to your last question. i don't necessarily think that ‘building hype’ is the wrong way to perform something, but i do think it is a flawed way to approach creating a performance.

i think that ‘hype’ is flawed concept at its core, and one that focuses on the idea that there’s always being something more, something next, beyond the work itself. now there’s nothing wrong with playing with tension within the internal structure of a piece, that's exactly how constructing a narrative happens. however, the flaws come once we extrapolate beyond the boundaries of that individual work. the idea of ‘whats next’ implies that you have to constantly be promoting, have a sequel coming, building hype etc so people will keep engaged with your work. which is deeply capitalistic in nature and operates on the assumption that art exists purely as a product to be sold. and in order to keep selling you need to keep making a bigger and better and more spectacular product. and this is not the case at all. marketability is not the essence of art, it merely a factor of creating it under this insufferable system. kpop in particular suffers from this because the industry is specifically fabricated to produce capitol. we can have discussions all day about idols and their artistic integrity but at the end of that day, they are all cogs working with a system that was specifically made up by essentially one person to be culturally exported and to just print buckets of money. so in following that train of thought, there is a constant attitude of bigger and better because shock value (whether positive or negative) gets social media attention and therefore it sells. and it has become exponentially easier (and also seemingly required) to make things that are bigger and better than ever before. i remember being blown away by the projection floor at the sochi 2014 olympics because something of that scale and complexity would never have been possible without literally having the funding of the olympics. now that technology is easily accessible to anyone with an amazon account and the time to learn how isadora works. in comparison, it took 2400 YEARS for just the job of a ‘theatre designer’ to be even become a job at all.

because of kpop’s fan culture it is especially prone to ‘hype’ behaviour. in general with the accessibility of the internet and social media, everything has turned into a competition, and who can generate the most buzz ‘wins’. but ultimately that has taken away the general public’s ability to recognize that you can enjoy something quietly and you can enjoy something slowly. that the enjoyment of something doesn’t need to be all exclamation marks and keysmashes and trending hashtags on twitter. there is value in a work engaging in an emotion within you that is not just excitement. most of the artists and companies that i consume the work of i don’t do so because their work makes me excited, i do so because i liked the experience of engaging with that work. several years ago i saw the eternal tides by legend lin dance theatre, which you can watch a really short clip of here. that is not slow motion, that is actually how slow the dancers are moving. and 90% of the show is performed like that. and its two hours long. and it was one of the most incredible performances i've ever seen. if i ever get the chance I will go see another one of their shows again, not because i care about how they can top that experience i had, but because i know they can produce that experience, and that is enough to make me want to seek them out again. the speed of the internet has also loosened the general public’s understanding of just exactly how long creating a performance work can take. the lead dancer in the eternal tides was with the company for eight years before she and the piece were ready enough to be performed. large scale operas, musicals, and plays often have a year or more of pre-production before they even get to rehearsal. smaller theatre companies workshop new pieces for years at a time. performance is hard and it takes time. you can eliminate some of that with sheer amounts of money and people, which is what the kpop industry has done, but it speeds up the cycle of consumption to a degree that is not sustainable, especially for companies and creators who do not have that kind of access. performers and performance makers often don't put enough trust in their audiences. if they like what they see, they will come back. they dont need to be constantly bombarded with content at all times.

now that i’ve said a bit about why i think hype is a flawed concept, let's bring it back to kingdom. sf9 did something very interesting with their stage in that they actively chose to limit their dance time. and this plays very well off the performance film stage that taeyang did a couple of weeks ago. taeyang is talented and confident (for good reason), and his solo was incredible. but when it came to the intro stage, instead of trying to one-up the solo stage, the group instead said ‘well people are going to be looking at us because taeyang is insanely talented, so let's show them that we ALL have the confidence and the attitude to be up here.’ no need for flashy theatrics, they had the foresight to do something that would make them stand out from the rest of the groups. even if i was just casually watching the stages without doing any analysis on them (like i did for rtk), i would still be able to distinguish them because they had the stones to stand around for half their stage time. now i recognize them and would like to see what else they can do. same principle as what btob and also what ikon did. there is a fine line between anticipation and hype that gets equated in media consumption nowadays, but the two are not the same.

i think the tldr on this is that you dont need to ‘build hype’ or ‘go all out’ to make an interesting work. just focus on telling the narrative that you want to tell, and the people that recognize that will come. i could have a lot more things to say about peoples shrinking attention spans and the constant stream of information that we consume on a daily basis that devalues the labour done by artists in the eyes of the public and promotes hustle culture that is burning out and damaging creators at a rate that is both exponential and frightening, but that’s probably for another time, because this is SO LONG

#kingdom #kpop questions #this was a very interesting ask thank you anon!#the consumption and production of art is fascinating and also as an artist it gives me a fucking headache #many thoughts head too full #i hope this provided you with some more insight anon #none of your opinions are wrong i just have different ones and thats ok! i love discussions like this #Anonymous #kpop analysis #text #general design questions #kingdom review responses #answers #kingdom asks

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gordvendomewhore · 5 years ago

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heyo this was supposed to be attached to a reblog of @schoolfullofmorons‘s post but it is so outrageously long and has taken several days and therefore is its own post now LMAO

because this is super long, everything is gonna be under the keep reading thingy teehee

anyway,,, i present to you: all nine preppies, and how they would act during quarantine

(please note that these are just headcanons and honestly are pretty ooc considering the fact they’re all assholes who would protest quarantine with signs that say “WE WANT HAIRCUTS” but GOD i just wanna pretend they’re decent people for a day or two)

derby:

thinks the virus is a joke and would 100% protest quarantine, but still gets SUPER antsy and jumpy when anyone coughs or sneezes around him

wastes a bunch of water and half a bottle of soap washing his hands for ten minutes straight, but totally not because he’s scared or anything!! the virus still totally isn’t real!!!

since there’s only the household help he can boss around, derby gets bored and lonely pretty quickly, and misses feeling in control.

in attempts to fix this, he tends to call up bif or some of the other preps just to half heartedly yell at them about every little inconvenience that happens in his day to day life, but they’re really dismissive and say things like, “yes, yes, derby, whatever you say.”

(they all know derby is just expressing how he misses them in the only way he knows how.)

derby probably spends a bunch of time lounging around the house, watching the workers do their thing and thinking about how he’s sooooo much better and fancier and richer than them.

however,,,,,, he ends up watching them so often and so intently that the workers get confused and wonder if derby is interested in trying out what they do around the house (cleaning, cooking, gardening, etc.)

so they offer to teach derby, and of course, derby gets wildly upset and most likely threatens both their jobs and their lives haHa

it doesn’t stop him from watching just a tiny bit closer though, you know,,,, just to make sure that these paupers are doing everything to the harrington standard

derby pays off the teachers to keep his grades up and acknowledges school in absolutely no other way.

bif:

while bif is concerned about the virus, he doesn’t really care about school closing down.

school was never his main priority, but he’ll still make sure to tune into a couple of his online classes every week because of the sheer guilt that starts to pile up over time.

however he will NOT do anything with his assignments except read over them, and similar to derby, pays off a nerd to do his homework for him to make it seem like he’s actually doing something.

BUT you can totally bet that bif is one thousand percent upset over the boxing gym being closed down!!

he still has his personal gym in his mansion, which he now uses a lot (partially because he has so much time to kill, but also because he’s still butthurt over jimmy’s scrawny ass beating him)

but it’s not the same because now he can’t train with the other preps!!!!!

how will he know if they’re improving? or if they have the proper stance??? or if they’re swinging with the right force????? or if—

but yeah, bif makes sure to check up on the preps every once in awhile to see their boxing progress

he finds quarantine to be incredibly quiet and empty, in a literal and metaphorical sense.

he isn’t lonely per say, bif actually finds a lot of peace in the silence!

he gets a lot more time to think than he normally does and that’s a gift within itself.

...but his days are usually filled with never ending whining and the loud screaming of faux accents, so the sudden change feels strange, but not unwelcomed.

(plus he still has derby bothering him 24/7 so it’s not like much has changed anyway LMAO)

bif may not admit it out loud, but he misses his prep family clique members a whole lot. :(

gord:

this bitch couldn’t care less about the whole situation.

he spends his days at home binging every movie and tv show known to mankind, expanding on his beauty care regimen, and doing major amounts of online shopping; daddy’s card isn’t gonna just spend itself after all!

he’s actually clearing out the entire aquaberry stock as we speak.

gord is aware of the dangers of the virus, but hey, he’s not stepping a foot outside anytime soon, and he’s always been the hygienic type, so why stress over something out of his control?

this king is absolutely thriving, the outside world truly does not matter to him anymore.

(but did it ever?)

gord will admit that he misses his friends, but it’s not like he has no means of communication with them!

you can bet your ass that every single prep is being hit up with a selfie of gord‘s magnificent face every single day of the WEEK baybee.

gord would also be the time to experiment with new hobbies and activities, yknow like a bunch of random shit like knitting or wood carving just to say he’s actually done something during quarantine.

he’s also the type of person to get really obsessed with social media quarantine too LMAO he probably gained thousands of followers on twt or tiktok or some shit for thirst trapping

gord would 100% open an onlyfans too, but he doesn’t need the money

plus, the world already can’t handle him and he CANNOT be held responsible for the chaos that will ensue if he does more than mere thirst traps

with school, he skips out on the online classes for subjects he doesn’t take an interest in, but rigorously studies for the ones he does care about (especially if they’ll play a big part in law school!!!

tad:

oh poor baby, he’s stuck at home with his horrible excuse of a father.

tad, like the other preps, doesn’t care for school (“money gets you farther in life than education ever will,” derby harrington at some point), but that doesn’t stop him from sucking himself into his education.

he attends all his online classes, does all his homework, studies optional material, does extra credit, anything to keep his mind away and busy from his dad.

(idk what tad’s dad does for a living but let’s just pretend he’s an essential worker and is out of the house often because i do Not Want tad suffering more than he has to)

he’ll take lots of walks around the neighborhood, and spends a lot of time hanging in the park.

plus gord usually calls him every other day or so to keep him company and the two will just chill together and talk.

tad probably gets into some soft hobbies like keeping up a diary, sewing, painting, and maybe even slowly picks up baking again.

gord probably sent him a bunch of tiktoks of people making frog bread and tad knew in his heart that he needed to make frog bread too LMAO

tad is canonically the type of person that would bake for your bday, so he experiments around with cakes and sweet treats in general he thinks the other preps would like.

there’s an Entire Fridge in his house dedicated to his baked goods now. that’s how often tad bakes.

he also looks forward to the day he can see his friends again and plans out all the things they’ll do once they’re reunited.

the preps are more of a loving family than his real family ever was, and tad doesn’t plan to let that fact go by unnoticed in the future :))

parker:

he lowkey goes insane.

parker has no idea what to do with himself now that he’s stuck at home with his parents and sister.

don’t get him wrong, he really loves his family, and genuinely enjoys the family activities his mother forces them to bond over, but what else is there to do?

he’s bored.

plus, parker gets up in his head way too often, and now there’s nothing to distract him.

he never really had any particular hobbies, and you will never catch him doing school work (he pays off his teachers).

and even though being at school sucks because bullworth academy itself sucks, doing things with the other preps made parker forget about his lack self importance and direction in life.

it seems like the end of the world to him, more because of his life and schedule being interrupted rather than the virus itself.

when he’s not with his family, parker spends a lot of time lounging in the mansion’s garden with the garden gnomes, and talks to them pretty often too (we’ve all heard those voice lines LMAO).

parker talks about everything and anything with the gnomes, and allows himself to just rant about life.

and sure, he thinks people who talk themselves 24/7 are hella crazy, but hey!! the gnomes love to listen!!! so therefore parker isn’t crazy!!!!!

he probably ends up doing gardening as a small hobby, and he genuinely likes it!

...even if it does have him down in the dirt and covered in sweat amongst other filth.

parker’s one of the less pretentious preps, so i can see him putting his entitled behavior aside, even if it is only this one time and for this one thing.

after all, his money and status don’t exactly matter anymore; everyone’s busy caring about more dire matters.

after the initial boredom, i can see parker letting loose and maybe even becoming a more decent person while in quarantine.

bryce:

he is 24/7 anxious.

it’s not specifically because of the virus itself, or because of school closing down, but it’s just the whole situation in general that makes him nervous.

bryce is stuck at home with his mother and father, in what bryce likes to call their cozy mansion, but what derby likes to call their oversized blue collar cottage (which bryce finds dumb because his parents don’t even work blue collar jobs).

his father, even during these dire times, is still gambling and wasting their money away, so that just hella adds onto bryce’s anxiety about the situation.

golf & yacht (where bryce canonically works) closes down since it isn’t considered an essential business, and so bryce ends up losing his job.

he’s really desperate to find another place to work, and rightfully so!! he doesn’t want his family to be losing more money than they gain.

bryce probably ends up working somewhere a step above fast food (he isn’t that desperate), like a cafe, since some are still open and surprisingly busy.

because of this, most of his hours are spent split between working and sleeping, and bryce doesn’t exactly have time to think about anything else other than family and money issues (something he thought he’d never have to worry about).

but bryce hides his physical and mental exhaustion quite well, mostly so that his life proceeds without anyone wasting his time with questions of concern.

sometimes the preps that aren’t as judgmental as the others (tad, gord, parker, pinky, bif) will check up on him and even offer to lend his family some money, but bryce knows better than to accept donations of any kind.

he tries to attend the online classes that he can, and does a lot of his homework with tad.

chad:

put simply, chad is fine.

he wasn’t particularly shocked when the virus was reported to be spreading, or when school was closed down, or even when he had to say goodbye to his fellow preps and the harrington house, and leave to his home in old bullworth vale.

chad was never strongly effected by any of this, and honestly is just really relaxed.

chad’s relationship with his parents is quite well (despite their occasional nagging), and he has a lot of hobbies that filled up his time during school and still fill up his time now.

so unlike tad or gord, chad doesn’t go searching for new activities to keep him busy or give him a sense of meaning and accomplishment.

chad wakes up early in the morning, when the sun is still rising, spends his day playing with his dog, chester, jogging around the neighborhood or park, boxing in his home gym, talking with his family, attending his flute lessons (which are now online), and then he goes to sleep with a tired mind, yet a well rested soul.

the only thing he doesn’t do is his school work (he pays off his teachers like derby), but occasionally you’ll see him attend an online class or two.

he lives his life on a clean schedule, and enjoys the alone time he gets during these tough times.

there’s no significant change in how he goes by his days, and chad is perfectly content with that. :)

justin:

he’s vibing.

at the beginning of quarantine, justin probably spent a bunch of time laying in his $10,000 satin sheets, doing nothing but thinking about random shit ranging from whether or not his family should invest in a second jacuzzi, his raging insecurities, how big his muscles are, or if he’ll ever get a chance to talk to the ted thompson himself, but that all gets old REAL quick.

he’s the type of person to be like, “i’m too rich to be sulking around!” even though those two things don’t exactly correlate in this situation LMAO

(but oh well, justin is a prep after all, their whole personalities are based around money.)

similar to bif with his boxing, justin throws himself entirely into swimming!

his family owns an indoor and outdoor pool, but nothing will EVER beat the feeling of swimming in the ocean for him.

there’s just nothing that feels the same, not even a pool with saltwater will ever mimic the feeling.

so justin will often times travel from his cozy home out to the beach just to swim and chill out in the sand for awhile, whether it be for thirty minutes or a whole afternoon.

omg he also gets really into corona virus gossip

*justin the the prep group chat* “guys, i heard that if you put an onion in every corner of your house, you’ll be safe from corona”

“guys did you know that if you drink a shot of vinegar everyday it’ll clean out your immune system?”

“GUYS omg i just heard that if you bathe in a mix of egg yolks and nesquik chocolate milk powder, you’ll be immune to corona!!!”

and everyone is just so tired of him (except for parker who believes almost everything justin says and derby who encourages his behavior on because he lives for chaos)

he pays off his teachers for grades lolol mr. hattrick didn’t get fired for us to just forget these canon facts

honestly justin completely forgets school exists as a whole.

pinky:

pinky is completely sucked into social media.

she has an account on every big platform out there, each one being incredibly active, and each one having a cult following.

and now she gets to be even more active than she was before!!

pinky spends all of her time doing complex photoshoots in her bedroom, experimenting with intricate makeup looks, binging tv shows with gord, and contemplating whether or not she should give herself bangs (you can bet all of this shit and more is going onto her accs too).

pinky also spends a lot of money ordering random shit she doesn’t need and sometimes doesn’t even want, but hey!! it’s free serotonin, and pinky’s therapist says that serotonin is a good thing ahahA

sometimes she’ll even order something and just send it to random addresses just for the fun of it.

pinky is like santa, but with better fashion taste and a little less no slave labor.

speaking of therapy, her sessions are now all online because we practice social distancing in this house teehee

shits and giggles aside however, pinky is thriving!

she’s happy, and healthy, and safe in her mansion, and besides the general feeling of unimportance and lack of meaning during these times where time itself doesn’t feel like it exists at all, she’s fine haHA.

her parents keep nagging her to talk to derby and to “hang out with her future hubby while the streets are empty and there’s free time!” but pinky is NOT breaking quarantine to hang out with a boy who made her wait for a whole three minutes on their date.

(she had a nicer time with jimmy than derby would’ve ever given her anyway.)

surprise surprise! pinky also pays the nerds to do her work, but still attends most of her classes for fun, mostly so she can help tad and bryce with anything if they need it.

real queen shit if you ask me.

whew, thanks for reading all of that if you did!! sorry it was super long but enjoy your preppy food lmao

oh and my anon asks are on now so go ahead and send me some shit if you want to!! headcanon requests, drawing requests, questions in general lol anything

anyway bye byeee uwu

#tag yourself as a quarantine preppy LMAOHSJSKD #jesus fuck why is this post so long #well anyway here she is #i love feeding the community #derby harrington #bif taylor #gord vendome #tad spencer #parker ogilvie #bryce montrose #chad morris #justin vandervelde #pinky gauthier #bully canis canem edit #bully scholarship edition #canis canem edit #bully #mine #writing

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surveys-at-your-service · 4 years ago

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Survey #303

“if i can’t be loved, then i’ll be hated”

What color are your glasses, if applicable? Black. Candy corn or conversation hearts? They're both gross, don't make me pick between garbage. Do you own a lot of earrings? Not really after I weeded them out before moving. What did your backpack in high school look like? I dare say I had the dopest backpack of them all. It looked like a massive Ouija board, and the zipper was the planchet (sp?). Have you ever been to a rave? Nah. What is your favorite art medium? I have a particular fondness of oil paintings. They tend to look so smooth, and you can achieve incredible realism with them. How far away is the nearest hospital from you? Not even five minutes, I think. Who was the last person you visited in a hospital? My mom. What is your favorite car color? Pink, duh. How did you learn to type? We actually had a class specifically for typing in middle school. What style of wedding dress do you want? I don't have that set in stone yet, but I really do love ballgown dresses with long trains as well as a-lines with a moderate train. I love a lot, except really for mermaid dresses. Do you fit into any stereotype, or are you non-stereotypical? I don't know if I fit perfectly into any and really don't care. Would you want your first child to have your hair color? ???? I don't care about their hair lol?????? It would depend on the hypothetical father, in which case I'd probably find it cute, but this is so, so unimportant. Do you enjoy writing in cursive? Yeah, it just feels good and flowy to me. What is your favorite hair color? Natural? Probably blonde with natural darker undertones throughout. I like blonde hair because it's far easier to dye, haha. Now, if we're including DYED hair, rose gold or pastel pink is *chefs kiss* What is your favorite eye color? Sapphire blue, probz. Would you put your birthday on a different day if you could? Nah, it's fine where it is. What holiday is your birthday closest to? Valentine's. Do you vent on social media a lot? NOOOOOOOO. I barely post ANYTHING about myself on social media because I feel like I'm being annoying, self-absorbed, find anything I do actually interesting, or don't want people to think I'm a whiner. All I ever really do on social media is share or reblog funny shit, things I love, stuff I find relatable or inspirational, educational, important for whatever reason, etc... Do you have abusive parents? I am very thankful to say no. Is your house haunted? Doesn't seem like it. What's your favorite thing to watch on YouTube? I'm in a real WoW-related phase lately... Watching my favorite streamers, gold farming guides, and other various aspects of the game. What are five health problems that you have? I talk about the mental issues enough, so I guess I'll talk about physical stuff here. Uhhh I have very low blood pressure (it's a med side effect), I have extremely weak legs following muscle atrophy, I have bad tremors, especially in my hands (amplified by medication once again), maybe TMI but we're adults here and it's a legit issue that I have chronic and severe conspitation, aaaand then of course I have hyperhidrosis (excessive sweating) to a fucking outrageous and also humiliating degree. Ooooonce again as a prescription side effect. This answer made meds sound kinda bad, I know, but really, I'd rather have the will to live and just have to deal with these than want to die everyday and not. Do you have surgery coming up? No, let's keep it that way until I lose enough weight and when I am 110% getting loose skin removal. Which family member(s) do you look the most like? My sisters, ig. People say my mom also, but I honestly don't see it. Have you ever cried while watching a YouTube video? Yeah, usually just in let's plays, but it's happened for other reasons. Are you missing a website that just shut down? Nah, none that I know of. NO. FUCKING WAIT. So, when my laptop was fixed, a LOT of shit was wiped from it, and that included all of my goddamn Lightroom editing presets. The site they were from no longer exists, so I had to use a different, pretty sub-par one to install at least a few because it helps me get a start on editing the photograph and leaning towards the "vibe" I want before spending like 15+ minutes tuning it myself. Would you be a barefoot bride? No. Which would you rather name your daughter: Eliana, Echo, Emerald, or Ellery? Ohhh, I like these. I think I prefer "Eliana," but "Echo" is a close second. "Ellery" is nice, but it sounds too much like "celery" to name my kid that lmao. Which would you rather name your son: Maverick, Matthew, or Moses? Ugh, none, honestly. But "Matthew" wins. When was the last time you gave a speech? Like a *legit" speech? Probably not since uhhh... I guess when I argued my disability case at court? Does that even count? Have you ever been in a stampede? Well, never seen this'n in a survey before, so good job, lol. No. If you were a fairy, what color would you like your wings to be? It would depend on what I wore, really. And my hair. But probably light pink. Would you rather name your son Storm, Skylar, Sorin, or Solomon? "Sorin." "Skylar" is SO Southern, and "Solomon" sounds like the creepy kid all his classmates avoid and I ain't putting my kid through that. Did you read a devotional this morning? Not my jam. Would you rather be named Arizona, Alaska, Cali, or Georgia? Hm... "Alaska" is actually kinda cool???? And I'm white as fuck so lol????? I wouldn't mind to nickname of "Ally," anyway. Are you repulsed by ugly reptiles? lololol bro get out Did all your friends know about your first crush or was it a secret? I was definitely secretive and shy about it when I first started getting crushes. Do you ever feel insecure about going out without makeup? I feel insecure either way, so... How many different natural hair colors are there in your immediate family? So, this is a hard question to answer. My mom was born with brown hair, but it darkened to almost black; only her daughter Katie inherited that. By some genetic magic, Dad had blond hair as a kid, but it also turned black. Like... how?????? I was born with dirty blonde hair like him, and mine turned an average brown with age. My immediate sisters have always had brown hair. What is your favorite online game? World of Warcraft is ballin'. Would you ever want to be famous and sign autographs? Ha, the idea of signing autographs is awful... I can't physically write very long without my carpal tunnel flaring up. Do you like your shirt to be loose or tight? LOOSE. Especially as a bigger person, tight shirts are just really uncomfortable. What is your favorite Spanish name? I don't know nearly enough to answer this. Would you rather visit Asia or Europe? I think Asia is, in general, more interesting and prettier as a whole, but I guess I'm drawn to European culture being more like my own and there are specific locations I'm interested in, like Germany or Scotland. So to answer the question, I guess Europe wins. Are there any Asians in your family? I don't believe so. Have you ever had colored braces? Haha yeah, I did that when I had them. Do you take birth control pills? Yes, just for period cramps. Without them, they can be immobilizing for me. If you live in the USA: do you feel free and safe? Ha, no. Well, not *entirely*. Have you ever been sick on your birthday? I was recovering from the stomach virus, if that counts. As in I still got sick the day before and felt iffy on my actual bday. 17th, I think? Is talking about your past painful for you? Yes. Are you a member of any support groups online? I'm a member of The Mighty site, if that counts. When I'm feeling very, very sound of mind and helpful without all the negativity being a detriment to myself, I do like going on there and trying to help or comfort people. Have you ever called a suicide hotline? Yes, and the line was busy, and that's when I decided I was a goner. Do you ever fantasize about revenge? I uhhhhh... sometimes. What's a movie you would recommend to someone who never watches movies? Ohhh, that's hard. I don't really watch movies either, and I'm trying to think of one that essentially anyone would like, so hm. Oh, Coco is absolutely a possibility. That movie touched me so, so deeply and is high on my favorites list. It's impossible to not feel the emotions. Do you want to have grandkids? Hell, I don't want kids. Do you want to be an aunt or uncle? I already am one, and I love being an aunt. Who was your favorite Spice Girl? I don't remember their names or characters in general. Did you make a lot of home videos growing up? I mean *I* didn't, but Mom filmed quite a few. Do you enjoy babysitting? NO. What's an unpopular opinion that you have? Avoiding some political ones, uhhhh. OH. HERE'S ONE. THE SCENE AESTHETIC IS FUCKING CUTE AND NOT CRINGEY AND YOU CAN FIGHT ME ABOUT IT. Are you attracted to the opposite gender, same gender, or both? Both are A+. Was your first crush on someone of the same gender or opposite? Opposite. As a kid, I didn't even fathom the concept that women could date women. What is something you'll never eat again? Why? Brussel sprouts. Fucking disgusting. What is currently happening that is scaring you? Besides the very obvious answer of "Covid," I worry about my mom a lot. She's so weakened after all the chemo and meds and can do literally less than I can without heavily breathing and sweating. I just worry a lot that cancer will return sooner than we hope; I don't want it to EVER come back, but doctors say it is very, very likely at one point or another because she was so very close to Stage 4. What would be your personal hell? Being completely and entirely isolated forever while somewhere hot and humid, lol. And play one of my trigger songs on repeat eternally. What made the "weird kid" at your school weird? There was this poor guy named Alfred that was VERY clearly depressed out of his mind, and I heard him speak maybe once through all of high school, and the entire class couldn't believe it. He always sat way in the back and never smiled. I wonder how he is nowadays. What is a word you personally find offensive? "Retarded" personally offends me the most when misused and spoken as an insult. What instantly puts you to sleep? Now that is HARD to do; I have a ridiculously hard time going to sleep. The easiest way though would probably be me being drained from an emotional breakdown. That is so exhausting that I'm capable of crashing pretty fast and hard. What song is in a language you don't speak, but you love it anyway? I adore Rammstein, so there's plenty. I'll probably say "Donaukinder" is their best. What is something you would like to do if you weren’t judged for doing it? I keep that I RP a complete secret in my "real" life for this reason unless it's like, pried out of me. What's a movie you think everyone should watch? Why that one? Johnny Got His Gun. See how goddamn disgusting war is. What was the most unexpected good thing that's ever happened to you? Ha, realizing I was bisexual after once being homophobic. What is the funniest fact you know? Oh man, I know a lot of random trivia shit, really, so it's hard to say. Maybe that quokkas throw their offspring at predators to distract and escape from them... As awful as that is, c'mon, you gotta admit it's funny and shocking with just how adorable they are. What was your 'mic drop' moment? Oh, I don't know. Possibly when I publicly came out as bi on Facebook and made it abundantly clear that I gave no shits about some homophobic friends and family & I was beyond willing to let anyone's ass go over it. What's the kindest way a stranger has treated you? I remember as a kid at McDonald's, the woman in front of our car paid for our food; apparently seeing a mom, dad, and three kids in a van was enough that she wanted to just be kind and give us a smile. We have no idea who she was, never saw her face or anything, she was just a sweet woman. What is the biggest design flaw of your body? Okay, I'm going to let go of all hatred for my body weight-wise and just think of this as from a strictly natural design perspective, in which case I'd say my toes are too small. What age are you afraid of turning and why? 30, because I'm terrified of getting there and seeing I've possibly gone nowhere. What is the strangest thing you have ever felt? I'm keeping this question in just because I think there could be some interesting answers for others, but I'm witholding my answer because nobody wants or needs to know lmao. What makes someone immediately unlikable? Acting better than others and belittling. Who's a villain you sympathize with and why? D A R K I P L I E R because of his origins and overall purpose and just simply existing. What is something you regret to NOT have done? I have this oddly weird regret of not going like, all-all the way with He Who Shall Not Be Named????? Idk why though????? Considering I loved him way too much and I was a reckless and impulsive person who probably at some point would have wound up accidentally pregs????? What a fuckin trip that woulda been. What movie changed your life for the better? None have really "changed my life." What book you think should be directed as a film? Oh, idk. Most I can think of have been. Of all the decades you've lived in, which one have you liked best? The 2000s, probably. A carefree kid. How are you doing today? I'm exhausted. While out with Mom and my sisters yesterday, we got behind a van whose driver was obviously drunk or high off his goddamn ass, and he was swerving EVERYWHERE, nearly shoving so many cars off the road. Mom called 911 to get in contact with highway patrol to report his dumb fucking ass in. I was having an absolute panic attack and cried quietly like the entire 45 or so minute drive home. I was just so, so upset because this is why I don't fucking drive, and I felt like I'd made my sister (who was driving) mad because she had to firmly tell me I had to calm down (I was hyperventilating and talking to myself to try to calm down) if she was going to focus and keep us safe. She later ensured me she wasn't mad, but I still wasn't the same the entire rest of the day. Anyway, I slept hard last night but had two nightmares, so I'm still really tired today. I'm trying to keep myself really distracted. What's something your relatives don't know about you? A whole lot really, considering beyond my very immediate family, I see almost nobody because they live many states away. What's something your parents did, which you have sworn never to do? Mom would spank us or slap an arm pretty hard if my sisters or I misbehaved or "disrespected" her by "talking back." I'm not having kids, but I would never, ever, ever, put my hands on them in any way that isn't loving. You do not teach children via inflicting fear. I also have this probably overly strong aversion to beer because that's what Dad always drank as an alcoholic. I'll probably never try it, not that I really want to because it smells awful. What's the most annoying thing your pet does? I feel like "annoying" is the wrong word for this, but Roman (my cat) can be incredibly demanding of attention and to lie on me when I'm on the laptop in bed, and sometimes I just want space and be able to clearly see the screen, haha. He will legit meow like a baby and gently swat my arm sometimes if I try to keep him back. Heeee usually gets his way. As for Venus (snek), she does nothing "annoying" either, but rather a bit concerning to a snake mom: she is usually very slow to find and strike her food. I feed her frozen/thawed mice, and she will first slither around her entire cage, tongue flicking and clearly looking for her food, even though I always place it atop the same spot on her hide, and she can have her head RIGHT beside it and still do nothing. She ultimately generally eats (as a ball python though, she's a picky eater and will occasionally reject a meal), but I of course wonder why she's odd about dinnertime... As a champagne, she does have the notorious "spider gene" in her, which can cause neurological issues, but idk if something like this could be related.

#survey #surveys #questions #lyrics: ''rise rebel resist'' by otep

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syubology · 5 years ago

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How to Start Writing

A lot of questions I’ve gotten over the past few years have been to do with actually starting to write, putting those first words down. Sometimes it’s people who used to write and are daunted by the task of getting back into it, other times it’s brand new writers, just tiny word-gremlins brimming with untapped inspiration, lacking the cynicism induced by years.. decades of having your life ruled by imaginary creatures.

At the end of the day, the only tried and tested tip for starting to write is WRITE, but I will try to provide you with a few others for the sake of appearances.

🌙

1. Start Small.

Maybe you’re incredibly imaginative and you have this entire fantasy series in your head just ready to be put on paper, but... try not to rush into it. When I started writing first, every idea I had was for a novel, but I didn’t actually have the skills (and still don't) to complete a novel, so this led to a string of failed projects, which is not good for the delicate soul of a tiny word-gremlin.

If you do have a big idea you love, I would suggest writing smaller stories, with simpler plots, based in that universe - for example, you could use a prompt list/generator (Google them, they’re everywhere) and adapt those prompts to your universe. If your story is some epic sci-fi horror series and the prompts are about funfair dates, it could make for quite an interesting time. These exercises will allow you to work on your characters and your world, while giving you time to build the skills you need to one day develop the story into something bigger.

If you want to work on fan-fiction specifically, fluffy drabbles are your friend. You can start NSFW if you really want to, but I don’t advise it. Some people find smut comes easiest to them, but for me - and most writers I know - sex is one of the hardest things to write. Again, you can try prompt generators (like this OTP one here) or check places like Twitter for AU ideas - although, if you’re planning to post/share your story, do not use other people’s AU ideas without their permission!

2. Read! Watch! Consume!

Consuming other media is literally one the most important things for writers and new writers in particular. Watching/reading casually is a great way to spark some inspiration, but if you find something you really love, something that makes you think I wish I wrote this, then I suggest going over it again with a more critical eye. Focus on the character development, the plot, the aesthetics - try to pinpoint the aspects of it that really make it resonate with you. Low-stress exercises like this will also help you learn more about storytelling in general without actually putting much effort in, so it’s win-win.

3. Adjust Your Expectations.

Understand that creative writing, especially on the scale of a novel, is a skill which needs to be developed. Just because you got good grades in English class does not automatically mean you’re going to be an excellent writer, and just because you’re not an excellent writer now doesn’t mean you never will be. No one picks up a paintbrush for the first time and expects to create a masterpiece. Artists of all sorts work hard for years to hone their craft and develop their style, and writers are no exception to this. You will not be good overnight and half the stuff you write in your first year, you probably won’t be able to read by next year because it will make you cringe so hard - but that’s not a bad thing! This means you’ve improved so much that even you can see it and getting a writer to acknowledge their own growth is no simple feat.

4. PRACTICE, but maybe not too hard?

There’s no such thing as I can’t write, or I can’t draw, or I can’t ride a bike. You can - with practice. You should know what your goals are with your writing and adjust your practice based on this. Do you just wanna spend one or two evenings a week writing about your OTP/OCs on cute dates? That’s fine, work at your own pace, and don’t force yourself to write if you’re not feeling it. Are you angling for a six-figure book deal? Then you write till your eyes bleed, my fren, you write till your bones are empty and your laptop keyboard is talking back to you.

That said, you do need to know when to stop. Creative burnout (which is a big cause of writer’s block) is real and it is horrible. Practice isn’t always a blast, but it should never be torture. Maybe you need that six-figure book deal more than you need life itself (big mood), but you also need to sleep, friend, you also need to do some things that aren’t writing or you will lose your goddamn mind.

5. Bonus: Write Because You Want to Write.

I’ve used the artist/drawing analogy several times because over the years in fandom, I’ve seen quite a few people start writing simply because they ‘can’t draw’ and writing seems like a good alternative. While I don’t enjoy the common misconception that being a good writer is easier than being a good artist, I’m not saying those people are wrong. Everyone should dabble in the arts and see what their creative side has to offer - this might be how you find your true calling and that’s wonderful. Just understand that while writing comes a little easier to some, it’s not easy for anyone. There is a huge pressure in certain fandoms to create in order to feel included, so just make sure that you’re having fun with what you’re doing and not simply succumbing to that pressure.

A Final Note:

I’m not trying to shit on artists with all these analogies, I swear, I worship them as gods. Each artistic craft has its own skill-set and they can’t be fairly compared, but people to tend to understand how difficult drawing/painting is because we’ve all been forced to attempt it at one time or another; however, people rarely grasp just how difficult it can be to write a good story because they got A’s on their ‘My Summer Holidays’ essays in primary school. So, one last thing to keep in mind is this: artists have an abundance of tools and mediums at their disposal, and they can try their hand at each until they find one that suits them; writers only have words and must build worlds with them.

Thank you for reading! This is my first proper post like this, so I’m pretty nervous and a Libra, so I’d appreciate praise and validation. But! If you have any more questions about this post or suggestions for future posts, please shoot me an ask! You will not be annoying me - I wouldn’t have made this blog if I didn’t wanna help other writers - and there are no stupid questions!

#writing #writing advice #writing tips #writing help #writeblr #syubvice

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comicteaparty · 5 years ago

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April 8th-April 14th, 2020 Reader Favorites Archive

The archive for the Reader Favorites chat that occurred from April 8th, 2020 to April 14th, 2020. The chat focused on the following question:

Has gatekeeping ever affected which comics you read? If so, how so? If not, do you think it could in the future?

DanitheCarutor

You know, I usually don't care about the person behind the work, although there is an exception. During the Twitter Pride Month event if a webcomic creator I'm following says asexuals/pansexuals/non-binary people aren't allowed/can't follow them either due to not being oppressed enough, or not being real LGBT+ people, I will stop reading their work. Afterall, it wouldn't be right since I'm not queer enough to read their work. -coughsarcasmcough- There are instances where I'll still read their comic, but with a feeling of mischievous excitement for doing something "against the rules". Although there will always be this understanding of that person hates me, coupled with a slight feeling of 'yikes' whenever I see their work. Lol It's about the same with any other type of gatekeeping, although admittedly I'm more lax about unfollowing someone if I'm not being targeted since I'm narcissistic like that.

sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)

Thats ridiculous to think an author would try to control which demographics can read their work. Artists shoudn't discriminate against certain groups in who can access their art.

RebelVampire

It does happen a lot though as all my gatekeeping experiences are about that as well, creators kind of directly shunning a specific demographic (granted not exactly @DanitheCarutor 's experience)

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

@DanitheCarutor Man I've never seen anything like that. I thought this post was about "only true gamers will understand" comics and such. I guess I'm lucky I've never stumbled into that side of the internet. If someone holds such views and expouses them so loudly i probably wouldn't like what they write, anyways.

RebelVampire

To answer the question more thoroughly, there have been plenty of incidents of gatekeeping that have affected how and if I read certain webcomics. However, generally speaking, they come in two specific flavors. Flavor 1: Creators basically pushing for their target audience too aggressively to the point they're either: A) insulting anyone who is not in that target audience or B) dismissing anyone not in that target audience and treating them as someone who isn't a "true" fan. which usually means their opinions are basically treated as auto invalid and not worth anything. B is more the experience I see for this flavor on my end, though honestly I don't think a lot of the creators I see do it on purpose. This particular flavor usually just effects my engagement because I generally just don't want to engage with the work at all if my opinion is going to be auto invalidated anyway. Flavor 2: Creators basically saying "Don't read my comic if you don't 100% agree with my political view(s)." This is a nope for me. A guarantee I will never read that comic again and will immediately mute said creator on my social media - even if I do 100% agree with their specific view. I cannot stand it when people literally cannot tolerate the fact that people who may think the opposite of them (or even have nuanced opinions that aren't full agreement) can still enjoy their work. Out of principle, I will not support this, and out of practicality, the audience that stays after that will probably be equally closed minded and probably not people I want to hang out with on a regular basis anyway.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I don't get the "don't even read this if you [x]" thing. I can understand if they just don't want to hear disagreements, but even silently reading?

RebelVampire

What I don't get is half the time said political view has absolutely nothing to do with the work whatsoever. So it's not like people would be going into the comic commenting disagreements anyway?

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Who knows, maybe they've actually had weirdos making political comments in their comment sections and they finally had enough one day.

I do know at least one person whose (very non-political) comic has attracted a lot of politically vocal readers, and it has been a source of headache for them for a long time.

RebelVampire

Yeah I mean I don't doubt there's some comics. Usually in the little research I've done it wasn't really the comic that was getting view. THey just saw something on social media that made them angry thus had to comment on it.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

In the case I'm thinking of, it wasn't that the fans got angry at the creator's views. The fans were just openly talking about that stuff? They didn't seem to understand, nor care, that the creator didn't share their views. It's..... weird is all I can say.

My only guess is the comic got shared in a politically oriented space (forum, a FB group, whatever) and attracted some vocal readers from that space. Maybe.

RebelVampire

Possibly, although in my experience it's pretty easy for comment sections to devolve into some random political discussion. People tend to be very passionate about their viewpoints, so it really only takes one person being mad

and then relevant xkcd comic https://xkcd.com/386/ happens XD(edited)

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

It might not be relevant in this case because the readers weren't arguing with each other XD just vocally agreeing with each other in someone else's space

Though yeah, I have seen it happen too, political wars in some completely non-political comic's comment section

There was a semi-infamous case

The Tiny Hippo comic in which the hippo knifes a raven that stole its toy got littered with Koreans arguing with others about the Korean-Japanese political tension. The comic... has absolutely NOTHING to do with Korea, Japan, or even Asia.

RebelVampire

omg now thats extreme

DanitheCarutor

@Eightfish (Puppeteer) Yeah, be prepared if you ever dive into the LGBT+ artist/comic side of Twitter during the Pride Month events. There are far more nice, inclusive people, but the exclusive ones are very loud and make long rant threads. Also you may get someone responding to your promos with nasty shit if you use the hashtag. This has never happened to me personally, but has happened to webcomic creators and illustration artists I follow who are very open about being asexual/non-binary/pansexual.

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

To be honest, I am usually the one LGBT+ creators keep from reading their work in those scenarios. It has happened before where a creator has said something similar about ace people or hetero people not being allowed to read because "they wouldn't get it." Or sometimes even more offensive. Even if I wasn't both of those things, hearing someone be so exclusive of any group just makes me not want to support them. So yes, haha, I have definitely been affected by gatekeeping.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Theoretically, I can see where gatekeeping can be done in good faith, and possibly even respectfully. Like, there's a reason why support groups for a specific thing only allows people who are directly affected by that specific thing. Trying to educate other people on that issue, and including the allies, those things are extremely important, but a gated safe space is also incredibly valuable. You can do BOTH of those things (just not in the same place at the same time). It can definitely go wrong, though. It really can.

like "we need a safe space for lesbians to talk about their struggles" is not the same thing as "if you're not a lesbian, you don't count as lgbt" (which would be... no???)

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

yeah.. I've also seen lesbian only spaces turn terf-y

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

I think there is definitely a difference between gatekeeping against bigotry and blanketsweep gatekeeping against a specific group of people that you've stereotyped as bigots

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I mean, it's not always about keeping the bigots out

sometimes you need a safe space specifically for that group, and not the supporters of that group. That serves very specific purposes.

DanitheCarutor

@Cronaj (Whispers of the Past) Oh gosh, there is this one artist who's words I remember to this day. During Pride Month they made this looooong thread about how they didn't want ace people following them, how they are not allowed to use the hashtag or even be part of the LGBT+ community, then went on about how they were all just heterosexuals. The they talked about how non-binary people are damaging the trans community with their "fake gender". Very ignorant, very weird, I totally unfollowed them after that even though I really liked their art.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

But yeah, Twitter is probably the wrong place to do that.

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

God

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

@DanitheCarutor wtf ._.

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

That's part of the reason I don't participate in Pride stuff

Because I know I would get skinned alive

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

lol, I already got skinned alive for that reason even though I wasn't advertising my comic as lgbt. That's getting off topic for reader_favorites though.

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

In regards to comics, I haven't seen other readers gatekeeping a story before

But oddly more creators

Which completely boggles my mind

DanitheCarutor

Fffff yeeeah. I still try to participate in Pride stuff when I remember, but I never specify anything. I just say I'm a queer person and everyone is fine with it. Lol

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Because you'd think they want more readers, not less

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Mmm, not everyone wants more readers (or at least, it's not a priority for them)

RebelVampire

I'm kind of glad about that too. Readers gatekeeping is even worse sometimes in mainstream. So to a degree it makes me glad that the only people hurting a creators work is the creator themself, if that makes sense.

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Yeah, definitely

When fans of a specific TV series try to gatekeep against specific groups, it makes me so angry

It's usually for entirely stupid reasons too

"If you're not (insert race), you're not allowed to watch this show. It was not made for you."

Haven't really seen this yet for comics, but if I ever do..... YIKES

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I mean I can get "It was not made for you." But that's.... not really a reason to actually disallow anyone from enjoying it.

DanitheCarutor

Oh god I'm getting SU and Rick and Morty fan base flashbacks.

RebelVampire

I think when it hits webcomics (cause I won't pretend it won't someday), I think it's gonna be in the same regard where I see it more. In that readers will be saying "If you don't agree this webcomic/ship/something is the best, you're not really a true participant in the webcomic community!"

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Honestly, I think educating people outside of these marginalized groups is just as important as validating the groups

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

like I do it all the time, I check out stuff whose target audience does not include me. I just don't openly criticize it for failing to cater to me.

@Cronaj (Whispers of the Past) It's absolutely important. But one can support both education and gated safe spaces! Like I can totally imagine the same people moderating a gated safe space, and holding educational seminars where everyone is welcome. Those two things serve different functions.

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Yeah, I was talking about media tho, haha

Not gated safe spaces(edited)

DanitheCarutor

I imagine if it happens with webcomic it will be an extremely popular comic that will have the readerbase size of something mainstream. I've stumbled across a couple small instances where webcomic fans have been gatekeepy about fanart and such, but not real big, crazy instances.

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

That would likely be one of the biggest curses about having a webcomic that's popular.

RebelVampire

Actually when I think about it more, I've seen readers start to get gatekeepy about ships on super popular comics

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Actually, yes

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Oh man, shipping wars X'D

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Ship-gatekeepers are kind of scary

Especially popular romance comics that include love triangles(edited)

DanitheCarutor

Yeah, a couple of the popular Webtoon webcomics I've followed like Gourmet Hound have had big ship wars in the comments. Actually if you want to see a good example of ship gatekeeping, you can look at any popular romance comic on Weboons, the comment section will probably be insane.

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Yep

True Beauty is just FULL of gatekeepers arguing about the male leads

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I like to think a lot of the seemingly vehement shipping war comments are made in jest. But even if like, 80% of them are just having fun... you know there's 19% that are actually serious... and the dreaded 1% who will actually commit a crime IRL for their ship

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Ewww... Yep

DanitheCarutor

No, Keii, you're wrong. Most of the readers on Webtoons are horny children, they are going to be very serious about their ships.

RebelVampire

Yeah that is like the problem with a lot of things on the internet. It's hard to tell who is the 80% not being serious, and who is the other 20% who is super serious and thinks the 80% are completely serious about it too(edited)

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Omg, don't call the readers out like that

DanitheCarutor

Someone's gotta tell it how it is!

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

@RebelVampire Yeah, that's definitely the hardest part. Trying to tiptoe around the fact that a specific commenter very well COULD be serious.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

yeeeeah

DanitheCarutor

@RebelVampire That's definitely the crappiest part about being on the internet. You can never tell just from reading words, especially if they type in a super anal way like myself most of the time. Personally if I have no idea if a reader is serious I default to responding with a dad joke or a meme... which has caused a few upset responses.

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

I have definitely been attacked for what I thought was an innocent comment

RebelVampire

I've learned if I don't know if the person is serious or not to just ask. Sometimes make them grumpy and you get "well obviously i was joking/being serious", but at least saves the headaches of assumptions.

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

oh jeez @DanitheCarutor that sounds horrible gatekeeping

DanitheCarutor

Opinions, MMMM gotta love'em.

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

A comic creator I really respected, someone I thought was super supportive of the community at large, made a blanket statement forbidding cishets from joining their big new webcomic server. The server wasn't meant for LGBTQ+ webcomics only - all comics were allowed to be discussed - so it wasn't incredibly stringent on its content, just its membership. I know it's small beans compared to other bits of gatekeeping, but it definitely made some people feel left out, and it made me feel really sad. Made me feel like... even if I somehow became friends with the creator someday, I would always be considered an other/outsider, so... why bother, you know? I haven't really felt like keeping up with their work since. It doesn't quite feel the same. I don't know if had the 'right' reaction, but the experience definitely took off my rose-tinted glasses.

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

Honestly I think it’s really counterintuitive to gatekeep?(edited)

Like you want people to read your work don’t you? So can you really be so selective of people with such standards?

And if you’re a reader, gatekeeping is just going to harm the creator and make you look bad

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